Quote:
Originally Posted by SaraT
My Dad and one of my uncles avoided the Korean War draft by volunteering for the Army first. After training, another relative who was a Brigadier-General made sure that they were both sent to Germany for the duration of their service.  |
It certainly helps to have relatives like that.
Similar situations happened during the Vietnam War where guys would join the National Guard or volunteer for the Air Force or Navy before their draft number came up so they could avoid ending up as an Army or Marine grunt slogging through a rice paddy or the jungle. Or the lucky ones were able to at least, since a lot of other guys had the same idea and NG, USAF, USN and Coast Guard personnel requirements probably were maxed out within the first couple of years of the main US involvement, say by 1966 or '67. Perhaps all the smart ones went to Canada or Sweden.