I graduated from college in 1969 and joined the Marine Corps. My memory of those times is somewhat different from yours. Your college deferment reverted back to IA once you graduated and it was very difficult to get into the National Guard or the Reserves. Most of the baby boomers that I know do not have the “Baby Boomer Entitlement Syndrome.” We served our country in time of war; went to college and earned a marketable degree; got a good job; got married and raised a family; paid our taxes and voted; saved for our retirement and many, including myself, retired early.
“I graduated from college in 1969 and joined the Marine Corps. My memory of those times is somewhat different from yours. Your college deferment reverted back to IA once you graduated and it was very difficult to get into the National Guard or the Reserves. Most of the baby boomers that I know do not have the “Baby Boomer Entitlement Syndrome.”
Perhaps but maybe not so different. I am referring to those boomers who did not serve and avoided doing so primarily due to influence of their parents. Your comment about the Guard and Reserves is a good case in point. Towards the latter years of the war one had to “know somebody” to get in a unit. Perhaps one reason that our memories may differ is because it appears you and I went about college and serving opposite of each other. After serving three years in the Army of which one was in Vietnam I enrolled in college in the fall of 1969 and graduated in spring of 1972. So, I was on campus during the apex of the anti-war movement. And, I spent a lot of time listening to guys talk about various ways they were going attempt to beat the draft once they graduated and flipped to 1-A. The trick was to have one of the jobs or professions mentioned earlier lined up so that upon graduation they became employed quickly. Of course, if one knew somebody with some pull back home getting in the Guard or Reserves was a good ticket too.