My (much) older brother, whose draftability would have been in the 1950s-60s, told me when discussing military service that it was one life experience he really missed having. He was “4F” due to a pin in his arm. All his friends had been drafted, and what he saw made him appreciate the discipline and skills, and that special camaraderie, they had gained in the service.
Whether any of that could ever be reconstructed is quite another story.
>Whether any of that could ever be reconstructed is quite another story.<
Exactly. Back then, I think that most of the left were about as conservative as most of our republicans are today. We have just swung too far over the wrong way being PC and the military may god bless every last one of them, ends up bearing the brunt of the worst decisions.
Take a soldier from 40 years ago and compare the attitudes he worked under against what our men and women face today and you would probably see a completely different experience. Not necessarily a better one.