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To: greeneyes

Contrary to myth, WWII was fought by draftees and Vietnam was fought by volunteers.

http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m0LIY/is_/ai_98829319?tag=artBody;col1
The draft and historical amnesia
VFW Magazine, March, 2003

“No 20th century war could have been waged, much less won, without draftees. During WWI, 72% of servicemen were drafted—50% of the men in France’s trenches were conscripted.

In WWII, 66% of all U.S. forces were drafted. Of the 10.5 million Army personnel, a whopping 93% were draftees. A poll taken in 1941 showed that just more than half of Americans would be willingly drafted for overseas service.

From 1946 to 1973, 5,077,185 men were drafted. During the Korean War era, 30% of total troops were drafted. In December 1950, 82% of the Army in Korea was made up of regulars. Exactly two years later, the ratio was 37% regular to 63% draftee in the war zone.

During the Vietnam era, 1,728,344 men were drafted. Of the forces who actually served in Vietnam, 648,500 (25%) were draftees. Draftees (17,725) accounted for 30.4% of combat deaths in Vietnam.”


109 posted on 10/05/2008 7:15:30 PM PDT by ansel12 (The old Sarah smile. She is some girl, Sarah Barracuda. Hell, she's a natural-born world-shaker.)
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To: ansel12

As I said, people of my generation were either drafted or volunteered. I assigned no % to either group. My point was that many people of my generation served and were not draft-dodgers, as some people seem to think.


110 posted on 10/05/2008 7:41:10 PM PDT by greeneyes (Moderation in defense of your country is NO virtue. Let Freedom Ring.)
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