Chapter 22 Section 3 Notes A Nation Divided

The Vietnam Draft (Selective Service System) 18 yr old males required to register Still Are! 18 – 26 yr olds eligible to be drafted Many ways to get out at 1st Lottery began (1969) to make it fairer If selected, had to report to a draft board Would determine if you would go or not If selected, had to serve at least a yr Year   Inductees 1962     82,060 1963   119,265 1964   112,386 1965   230,991 1966   382,010 1967   228,263 1968   296,406 1969   283,586 1970   162,746 1971     94,092 1972     49,514 1973          646

In 1969, the Selective Service System instituted a national lottery for draft numbers.  The target draft age was 19.  In 1972, numbers were picked for people born in 1953.  The guy born on March 6th was #1.  If you were born on Christmas Day, you were #6.

Ways to Legally Get out of the Draft If you were an undergrad college student Draft would be deferred Put off until done with school If you were a grad student (eliminated in 1969) Both college exceptions protected high income people If you were married (eliminated in 1969) If you had a valid medical reason

How to Legally Get out of Fighting Conscientious objector Against your religion to fight May still have to go, just in a noncombat role Called 1 – A – O Status Volunteer for Coast Guard or National Guard Had to do this before getting drafted Would guarantee you didn’t end up in Vietnam

Ways to Illegally Get out of Fighting Not register or refuse to report for duty About 200,000 people Some burned draft notices Could go to prison avg. sentence = 1 yr. Most served little time Most hid out in U.S. undetected Some fled to a foreign country mainly Canada

African-Americans in Vietnam Large #s selected to serve Didn’t have as many ways out More frontline action than ever before Some saw this as racially motivated Civil Rights leaders like MLK Jr led protests A lot of Racial Tension Units were desegregated, but most high ranking officials were still white

Women in Vietnam Not allowed to serve in combat Not allowed to register for a draft 10,000 noncombat military personnel mainly nurses Many others volunteered Red Cross United Services Organization Entertainment for troops

The New Left College students that wanted changes 2 Main Groups Students for a Democratic Society (SDS) began 1960 Free Speech Movement (FSM) – began 1964 Originally form for different reasons College issues (curfews, dress codes) Anti – Business and Govt. Pro – Civil Rights Want More Freedoms

The New Left Protests Vietnam Why? It was not our war (Civil War) The S. Vietnamese Govt. was bad Other parts of the world need U.S. help too! People in U.S. need help more War is simply wrong Small #s in beginning Grew to large #’s within a few yrs (lottery system) Some arrested or injured in confrontations with cops

The Silent Majority Protesters get a lot of media attention 70% of public think protesters are wrong in 1967 Some disagree with war, but don’t like protesters Acting disloyal to U.S.

LBJ’s Strategy towards Vietnam Slow Escalation of Troop Levels throughout his Presidency Criticized by 2 different groups Doves = Wanted U.S. to get out of the war Hawks = Wanted the U.S. to use greater force