Draft Dodgers: Traitors?

[TCO]

What individual age groups had the most casualties in Viet Nam? Draftees? Overall?

Top draftee casualty age groups:

1. 20
2. 21
3. 22
4. 23
(note the abscence of "nu-nu-nu-nu-nineteen" , BTW, the age 18 group isn't even in the top 8).


Top overall casualty age groups:

1. 20
2. 21
3. 19

[TCO]

Originally posted by Dr Spin


BTW, I was rejected for nuke EDO. They want folks comming in with M.S.'s in NucE. My degree put me in intelligence. Go figure.

You really did join up? They got a great catch!! That's too bad about the EDO thing. The Nav can be kind of beurocratic. If you really want to, you might be able to transfer. I'm sure you have the tech ability. (Although a trip through nuke school would be useful.) I'm sure you'd make a great line nuke officer... Navy nuke training is like an MS NE. Better in some ways, worse in others...overall better.

If you run into Bill Hamblett tell him I said hi. He's an intell O-5 who was on my USNA gymnastics team. He wrote an article in Proceedings about being in the Pentagon during and after the attack.

[Dr Spin]

What's the standard deviation? are 19,20,21 roughly equal?

How was draft selecton? Were all 18-25'ers grouped together? Which age had the largest population relative to the others?

If the law is wrong, you not only have a right to break it, you have an obligation to break it.

It's not your place to declare a law 'wrong'. We pay judges for that.

[SlowwHand]

The average age of combat members in WW II for the U.S., 35.
In Nam, 19.

[chequita guevara]

Originally posted by Dr Spin
It's not your place to declare a law 'wrong'. We pay judges for that.

Tell that to the Freedom Riders and MLK. This government has been in the past, and is now, destructive towards human freedom.

[TCO]

Originally posted by Dr Spin
Geeps,



Why was this? And what was the casualty rate of NCO's? I'm interested because they were the 'copter crews.

O-1's had lower casualties because the Army tried to keep O-1's out of the tougher combat areas.

I don't have the NCO numbers. By subtraction, we can tell that 86.5% of all casualties were enlisted. I don't know the percent of that who were NCO's.

An interesting thing about helicopter crashes. About 10% of the fatalities in Viet Nam were from helicopter crashes. Of these about half were not combat related. About 2200 non-combat crash deaths and 3100 combat-related crash deaths. I don't have the stats for non-crash casualties on helicopters.

[TCO]

Originally posted by Dr Spin
What's the standard deviation? are 19,20,21 roughly equal?

How was draft selecton? Were all 18-25'ers grouped together? Which age had the largest population relative to the others?

Spin,

I don't know. Good questions. I can tell you that draft boards were used so it was a local process. Also, some people volunteered for the draft (you could pick your time then...and "take the summer off"...the time commttment that way was 2 yrs, versus longer for a regular enlistment.) I don't really understand your question about which age had the largest population. The War stretched over several years and (of course) people aged during it. Are you asking what was the average age drafted? Or the age distrubution of the US population? (I don't know either...)

[SlowwHand]

O-1's are just high priced E-1's, no experience at all.
The reason less officers die is simple math.
There is an officer over many enlisted men.
Actually, a straight thinking officer will listen to his nco's.

Another thing people forget are the Coast Guard.
You want to talk about people screwed? That's them.
Join the Coast Guard because they thought it would keep them from going.
wham! Patrolling rivers in country. Sitting ducks.

[chequita guevara]

What the heck was the Coast Guard doing away from the US coast?

[KrazyHorse]

I thought the Navy ran those river boats.

[SlowwHand]

Originally posted by chegitz guevara
What the heck was the Coast Guard doing away from the US coast?

The Navy is other ships, the Coast Guard is the coast. Not just the U.S. coast as they found out.
I may be wrong about the Navy not patrolling the rivers, but I know the Coast Guard did. I don't think I'm wrong, but the possibility always exists. It's been known to happen.

[TCO]

Did you guys know that you have to be at least 6 feet tall to be in the Coast Guard?


So you can walk back to shore if the ship sinks!

[Alexander's Horse]

Originally posted by SlowwHand


I don't know if or where that's said, but if it's said it must be said by a black, hispanic, or white trash.

Other than that, it's a ridiculous statement.

Its not a ridiculous statement at all. The figures for Vietnam show that a wildly disproportionate number of blacks, hispanics and poor white Americans were sent to Vietnam. Why? I believe its because if you were going to university you could get an exemption. Of course the middle class kids all go to university.

On the poor white thing, I read the U.S. military recruits predominantly from the poorer states, particularly in the South of the US. This is even reflected in recruitment to the prestige military colleges such as West Point.

[Rex Little]

A question for the pro-draft crowd: would you be in favor of drafting policemen? After all, the survival of our country depends on them fully as much as on soldiers, and their lives are at greater risk than the lives of soldiers (except soldiers serving in the front lines of an actual shooting war).

If you favor drafting soldiers but not policemen, can you explain why?

[SlowwHand]

Have some statistics, and I'll leave it at that without flaming you Horse.


RACE AND ETHNIC BACKGROUND

88.4% of the men who actually served in Vietnam were Caucasian; 10.6% (275,000) were black; 1% belonged to other races.
86.3% of the men who died in Vietnam were Caucasian (includes Hispanics); 12.5% (7,241) were black; 1.2% belonged to other races.
170,000 Hispanics served in Vietnam; 3,070 (5.2% of total) died there.

*** 70% of enlisted men killed were of Northwest European descent.

86.8% of the men who were killed as a result of hostile action were Caucasian; 12.1% (5,711) were black; 1.1% belonged to other races.
14.6% (1,530) of non-combat deaths were among blacks.
34% of blacks who enlisted volunteered for the combat arms.
Overall, blacks suffered 12.5% of the deaths in Vietnam at a time when the percentage of blacks of military age was 13.5% of the total population.

Religion of Dead: Protestant (64.4%); Catholic (28.9%); Other/None (6.7%).

SOCIO-ECONOMIC STATUS

Three-fourths had family incomes above the poverty level; 50% were from middle income backgrounds.
Some 23% of Vietnam vets had fathers with professional, managerial or technical occupations.
79% of the men who served in Vietnam had a high school education or better when they entered the military service. (63% of Korean War vets and only 45% of WWII vets had completed high school upon separation).
Deaths by region per 100,000 of population: South---31; West---29.9; Midwest---28.4; Northeast---23.5.