What if a Military Draft Happened Today?
A Vietnam Vet Asks Whether Today's Society Accept It? How Would it Look?
Over the Independence Day holiday I engaged in a very interesting conversation with a former Vietnam veteran at a coffee shop. Born in 1950, he turned 18 in the tumultuous year of 1968, and upon graduating from high school, without a college or a health deferment, and unwilling to evade the draft by going to Canada or protesting, he was drafted and sent to Vietnam.
Now what sparked this conversation was the attitude of the baristas behind the counter. Casually speaking amongst themselves, they were complaining about the recent Supreme Court decisions on Affirmative Action, LGBTQ+ rights and the Doubs decision from last year. It being a coffee shop, the attitudes tended toward the very liberal, and the ages of the baristas (though some were male1), were relatively young (all of the workers seemed college age or younger). The workers seemed completely unaware or flat out apathetic towards the perspectives of the customers, whose views likely didn’t align with their own, and many of whom certainly didn’t agree in the degree.
The man2 (who we’ll call “Bob”) upon receiving his cafe au lait and blueberry bagel came with his wife to the table adjacent to me, where I was having a vanilla latte, chocolate chip bagel and scrolling social media. The two began a conversation largely focused on the differences in generations and the attitudes of youth. Being close I couldn’t help but overhear (I tended to agree with what they were saying) and began to engage in the conversation as well. As a Gen Xer born in the early ‘70s, I’ve seen particular levels of social intensity (most notably 9/11) but the post 9/11 generation has yet to really be stretched in the same way. When one of the biggest, loudest complaints a generation can have is that they want someone else to pay for their college, they’re not really facing true adversity.
Which was how the draft came up in conversation.
In my life, I have never seen an actual draft. The closest was after 9/11 when it was discussed as a possibility, but Bush and the Republicans understanding the political unpopularity of that steered clear of it.3 Nonetheless, if any event in my lifetime was going to initiate a draft, that was it.
Bob’s disdain for the ‘60s draft was pretty evident, but he made it a point to stress the times they were in were very different from today and the society overall had different values altogether. We were at the height of the Cold War. The Cuban Missile Crisis was 1962. People genuinely believed nuclear war was inevitable. His father’s generation had a draft (even though many volunteered) and won World War II. Military men were regarded as heroes in society for saving the world. Being drafted, fulfilling your obligation to the country was seen as a patriotic duty; men just stepped up and did it. Those activists who avoided it were viewed by most as cowards, loudmouths or even traitors. It wasn’t that draftees didn’t all agree with the idea we had to help Vietnam or that it was a righteous cause; it was that America called on them and they needed to step up.
Which is where the conversation took a turn. Bob asked, “What do you think would happen today if we had a draft? Is our society so fragmented and broken that if the call went out, would it be answered and supported by the 18-25 year olds today?” And this is where we began discussing what a draft would look like today.
First, we both agreed that the provocation that initiates a draft has to be bigger than anything we currently see today. Another 9/11 level event or bigger. Anything less and you are looking at serious opposition. For instance, if Putin expanded the war in Ukraine across Eastern Europe, we could support them with existing troops and provide artillery, but if we had a draft for what was largely viewed as “a European War” that would likely not go over. Drafts impact all levels of society and many of the impacted are not gung ho military types. If you have a draft, it has to be broad based in its support, and it would have to be due to an event on par with a flat out invasion of mainland United States, impacting everyone.
Second, we had a serious discussion about whether women would have to be included in it. Since December, 2015, all gender based restrictions on military service have been removed However, since that time there has also been no plans to include women into the selective service system to be draft eligible.4 Younger generations are far more activist in the idea of equality and fairness; if you exempt women from the draft, how would that play out? Would men call foul? Would women be offended? My hunch on all of these items are that women would accept and appreciate not being included in the draft, but there will be some who volunteer. Is that fair or equal treatment? Would people allow and accept that hypocrisy? There are no good answers to this thorny issue.
Leaning into this further, would the wealthy be included? We all have heard the stories of how easy it was for the sons of wealthy individuals to defer or evade drafts. President Trump famously had “bone spurs,” which has become a joke like when he had this guy sign off on his health in 2016.
Would America accept the “Fortunate Sons” get a pass again? Doubtful. To be accepted, you would have to see as many privileged youths in the military draft as you would impoverished. That means less college deferments, that means less strings being pulled by friends at the Pentagon, that means less corruption in the draft process. If the process seems inherently stacked against the low and middle classes, it will never be accepted as legitimate.
Lastly, and the issue that we spent the most time talking about, the backlash. Most all of the issues that has galvanized the generation today have been disunifying and divisive by their nature. Black Lives Matter. MeToo. MAGA. They all speak to a group and pits it against another group. For over 20 years there has genuinely been a lack of unifying themes and topics that bring Americans together, and this generation has only experienced that atmosphere. In addition, the social media apparatus amplifies that divisiveness, giving greater voice and attention to those that provide the most disunifying themes. On top of that, this generation seems extremely narcisistic and self involved in focus; there are not many overarching issues where they think specifically about the greater good and make the necessary sacrifices towards that goal. So, assuming a major event occurs prompting a military draft, you could anticipate an exceptionally strong and vocal backlash against it, primarily from the very people targeted in the draft.
Bob and his wife finished their coffees and left but I couldn’t get this thought out of my head. As a society, Americans take for granted a lot of things, including the security of the nation. When we are confronted with the need, whether its taking our shoes off at the airport for TSA or going through metal detectors at concerts, we tend to get more offended or perturbed than appreciate the reasons that it is done. What happens to American society when we are faced with REAL adversity again? Who will be the ones to step up? Can we trust as a society that they will do so when needed?
I don’t have a good answers for these questions. In fact, it scares me a little to think of what would happen.
PurpleAmerica’s Recommended Stories
An interesting breakdown of how the Vietnam draft occured can be found here:
https://michiganintheworld.history.lsa.umich.edu/antivietnamwar/exhibits/show/exhibit/draft_protests/the-military-draft-during-the-#:~:text=The%20military%20draft%20brought%20the,eligible%20pool%20of%2027%20million.
It is well worth your time to read.
On another note, many countries have required military service. For example, Israel has required military service for both men and women. You can read about that here:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Israel_Defense_Forces#:~:text=National%20military%20service%20is%20mandatory,grounds%20(see%20Profile%2021).
PurpleAmerica’s Obscure Fact of the Day
During the Vietnam War, between 1964 and 1973, out of an eligible pool of 27 million men, 2.2 million were drafted, or one out of every 13 men. That means on average, out of every average classroom in America, one boy in that classroom would have been drafted.
This does not even include the men who volunteered for active military service or who signed up for the military reserves.
This was all a part of the “Peacetime” draft since war was never declared against North Vietnam.
PurpleAmerica’s Cultural Corner
One of the most profound scenes regarding the military comes from Full Metal Jacket. R. Lee Ermey, an actor who was originally only supposed to be a consultant for the script as to what a drill instructor would do and say so impressed Stanley Kubrick that Kubrick just hired him instead. It remains one of the finest acting performances in any military film.
Taking place in the Vietnam era, the idea that many of these were draftees particularly strikes home.
My father was in the marine reserves during this period, and he has a hard time watching these scenes with Ermey. They are so on point to what it was like to be in the military at boot camp at the time that he has PTSD from the experience.
PurpleAmerica’s Final Word on the Subject
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Footnotes and Fun Stuff
Upon writing this I looked it up and apparently a male barista is called a “baristo.” You see, you learn something new every day here at PurpleAmerica!
After the conversation I told him who I was and asked if I could use the conversation for the basis of a post. I wanted to use his name and history but he preferred to remain anonymous. He was fine with posting about the converation, and ultimately, I gained a subscriber.
While they didn’t have a draft, they did use some creative ways to increase troop levels. One was the “stop/loss” which was called a “backdoor draft.” Basically, when your tour was up and you completed your obligations, the military would not release you and you would continue your tour for another 6 months or a year.
Bob’s wife made a fine point on this; women would be glad to avoid the draft and would make the most of the time men would be off fighting the war. Back in WWII and Vietnam, couples got married right out of high school and waited for their spouse to return from military service. A draft today means that women would enjoy college and post college life without the burdens or cares of a spouse. They’d climb a more open ladder in the business world, they’d carouse more and perhaps be even more predatory about it with the lack of eligible men around; or in short, they’d act like older men have done for centuries.