Changes From Vietnam to Now | Selective Service System (2024)

FAQs

Changes From Vietnam to Now | Selective Service System? ›

The four major ways in which the draft system has changed since the Vietnam War are a standardized system for postponements, deferments, and exemptions; more representative boards; a lottery for the call of order, beginning with men 20 years old; and a guaranteed appearance in front of a man's Local Board to make his ...

Less than 1 in 10. During the Vietnam War era, between 1964 and 1973, the U.S. military drafted 2.2 million American men out of an eligible pool of 27 million.

On May 18, 1917, Congress passed the Selective Service Act, which authorized the Federal Government to temporarily expand the military through conscription. The act eventually required all men between the ages of 21 to 45 to register for military service.

While many soldiers did support the war, at least initially, to others the draft seemed like a death sentence: being sent to a war and fight for a cause that they did not believe in.

During the Vietnam War, college students could avoid being drafted by obtaining a deferment. Deferments allowed individuals to postpone their military service, often until they completed their education or until the deferment period ended.

After December 20, 1941 amendments to the Selective Training and Service Act made all men between the ages of 20 and 44 liable for military service and required all men between the ages of 18 and 64 to register for the draft.

The first to be called, in a sequence determined by the lottery, will be men whose 20th birthday falls during the calendar year the induction takes place, followed, as needed, by those aged 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 19, and 18 (in that order).

The requirements for exemption are: If a man is placed in a hospital, nursing home, long-term care facility, or mental institution on or before his 18^th birthday, had no breaks of institutionalization of 30 days or longer, and remained institutionalized until his 26^th birthday, he is not required to register.

On June 30, 1973, a young California pipe fitter named Dwight Elliot Stone reluctantly answered his summons to serve his country and was inducted into the United States Army as “the last man”—Uncle Sam's last draftee.

Which celebrities dodged the draft? ›

American draft evaders who left for Canada and became prominent there include politician Jim Green, gay rights advocate Michael Hendricks, attorney Jeffry House, author Keith Maillard, playwright John Murrell, television personality Eric Nagler, film critic Jay Scott, and musician Jesse Winchester.

The various exemptions which draft-eligible men could use to avoid service, such as still being in university education or being medically unfit, were thought to allow better-connected and middle class men to evade the draft more easily than working class or minority men.

Around 15 million were granted deferments, mostly for education and some for mental or physical problems. There were more than 300,000 draft evaders in total, of which 209,517 men illegally resisted the draft while some 100,000 deserted. Among them, around 30,000 emigrated to Canada during 1966-72.

Before the lottery was implemented in the latter part of the Vietnam conflict, there was no system in place to determine order of call besides the fact that men between the ages of 18 and 26 were vulnerable to being drafted.

Age Groups and Exemptions. The Selective Service System, responsible for the U.S. military draft, applies to all male citizens and immigrants aged 18-25.

Almost all male US citizens and male immigrants, who are 18 through 25, are required to register with Selective Service.

Most of U.S. soldiers drafted during the Vietnam War were men from poor and working-class families. These were young men who were not going get a college deferment, have a political connection, or have a family doctor that could give them a medical deferment.

It is now known that, during the Vietnam era, approximately 570,000 young men were classified as draft offenders, and approximately 210,000 were formally accused of draft violations; however, only 8,750 were convicted and only 3,250 were jailed.

The various exemptions which draft-eligible men could use to avoid service, such as still being in university education or being medically unfit, were thought to allow better-connected and middle class men to evade the draft more easily than working class or minority men.

Before the lottery was implemented in the latter part of the Vietnam conflict, there was no system in place to determine order of call besides the fact that men between the ages of 18 and 26 were vulnerable to being drafted.