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True, but he was still elgible for the draft prior to when the lotteries became the method of selecting for the draft.... He received student deferments up throug 65 I believe. He would have been 26 in 1967.... Vietnam was building up during the mid 60s so there's no reason to believe he would have served in Nam even had he been drafted....

Good point. The lotteries were a change in the ages of those called. They were taking older men up til then. But, if I may present a snapshot of what I experienced in 61. I enlisted in the Army that year just out of High School. The draftees I served with in Basic Training and through 64 (all before Vietnam got cranking) were, on average two to three years older than I was. So, those drafted in 61 were around Cheney's age, but by 65 to 67 (before the lotteries) his draft board probably had already passed him by. The only question I might have is for 61. If you look at the numbers, there was a spike in that year, probably because of the build-up in response to the Berlin Crisis.

http://www.sss.gov/induct.htm

Dick Cheney was born in Lincoln, Nebraska, and educated at the University of Wyoming and the University of Wisconsin. His first government position was as special assistant to Donald Rumsfeld, director of the Office of Economic Opportunity, in 1969 and 1970. He next served as a White House staff assistant in 1970 and 1971 and as assistant director of the Cost of Living Council from 1971 to 1973 before briefly returning to private life. In 1974 Cheney returned to government service as deputy assistant to President Gerald Ford. Cheney became deputy White House chief of staff and then served as chief of staff from 1975 to 1977.

This is too easy. Cheney served his country in other ways - with public service. In 1959, Cheney is 18 and goes to college. Four years later, he graduates at the age of 22 in 1963. In 1963, Vietnam was barely on anyones radar. Four years later in 1967, by the time it starts getting really dicey, he is 26 with a wife and child, and probably already working somewhere. How many 26 year olds with a wife and child chucked it all to serve in the military? Two years later - age 28 - he starts government service under Rumsfeld. He served his country during wartime several times - by being in the government and helping to form policy concerning the war!