We went down this road with Dan Quayle and George W. Bush (National Guard) and with Dick Cheney (student deferments and then dependent deferments).
Richard Nixon shifted from selective service to a lottery-style draft, and then to an all-volunteer military. Today, veteran status is a positive, but not having served on active duty is not a negative.
When I was in Army ROTC, I wondered why certain people I knew avoided service, including those who joined the National Guard or a Reserve unit. I even question a cousin of mine, who I understood got strings pulled by our Congressman to be sent to Germany instead of to Vietnam.
Then, by the time I took my commission and went to the infantry officer basic course at Fort Benning, we stopped sending people to Viet Nam, I realized that I, too, had avoided the war.
At another time, the country started mobilizing Guard and Reserve units for deployment to the Middle East, and I reconsidered. Today, anybody who wears the uniform, active, Guard or Reserve, is a hero. I have since reconsidered the looseness of the old selective service system, that allowed so many people to manipulate the system.
I blame that system, and not the fellows. Especially given how f’ed up was the Vietnam War.
Whatever McCain’s positive attributes are/were they will forever be overshadowed by angry bitterness that he was not elected potus. He is an old sick bitter failure trying to be relevant.
Funny how they never mention Bubba Clinton escaping the draft as they criticize Quayle, Bush, Cheney and now Trump.