Gabriella84 said:All full-time college students in good standing and regular attendance were exempt from military service. It wasn't draft dodging. Neither of my parents were drafted.
All of the negatives drawn from the Viet Nam war were the result of the United States being there unlawfully in the first place. As though who are willing to read know, Viet Nam was the first "prime time" war. The images were shown on TV every night. You got to see the death and suffering on both sides.
This is why our government so tightly restricts media access to war areas now. They don't want to make the same mistakes.
The horrible images of Viet Nam inflamed the social conscience of America. It prompted millions to protest against further slaughter of American soldiers. I have always been proud of my parents for doing what they felt was right. Rather than what was considered socially and politically correct. Like so many of you are doing now.
College was the way for most of the draft dodgers to get out of the draft. It also kept the rich kids out of the draft. It was called an educational defferment.
As you obviously don't know the war began with advisors being sent to assist South Vietnam, at that countries request. It was esculated in 65 by the gulf of Tonkin incident. Which was a fictious attack on a destroyer by N. Viet gunboats. It was concocted by the Johnson administration (a democrat in case you didn't know). It was decided then to esculate the war by introducing American combat troops. It was all backed by the democratic congress at the time. Nothing illigal there. The UN stayed out of it.
I was there so not only do I read and know, I saw it first hand. The images like today were specially edited and shown on TV every night. But there were not many reporters that left the safe areas of Saigon to go to the field and film what was really happening. I only saw two camera men the whole time I was there. They were from Stars and Stripes and didn't go out too far from the base camp.
The military needs to restrict media. The media tend to tell what the troops are doing and that could cost lives in a combat zone. Once again you have no clue cause its beyond anything you have or will experience.
Your parents and you are the ones doing what you consider to be socially and politically correct. There's a big difference between whats correct and whats right.