[NW GUY]

ON this date..January 21, 1977
President Jimmy Carter issued a blanket pardon to all those
good red blooded American youths who fled the country instead of reporting under Selective Service.

 

[roseman]

And we got Clinton as a result.

 

[Exarmyguy]

If you were against the war you should have served time in jail if you didnt go. All the dodgers should have been band until they served time in jail. Carter was wrong to do that. It was a slap in the face of all the people that did serve.

 

[charliemeyer007]

He didn't get to be the second worst president in living history for nothing. Too bad "you didn't build that" bumped him out first.

Yea well they let we ain't fonda jane come back. Her candle smells like chicken.

 

[Sailor]

Well...…… I didn't...………….

 

[ECF]

Tell you a funny GOV. story, so i entered delayed entry program, oct of 84, at 17 yrs. old....graduated high school may of 85, turned 18 july of 85, didnt even think about the whole selective service deal, was on delayed entry...right ?

go through basic aug / nov of 85, first duty station , 2nd ID camp casey korea, feb of 86 i get a letter from the Government, stating i was in violation , blah blah blah, if i do not contact the phone number...blah blah there would be a warrant issued for my arrest..blah...so i'm in a panic, go down to the CQ office, turns out my platoon SGT, and TOP were having a cocktail in TOPS office, i walk in and describe to them what the letter says, TOP says " lemme see that" ! i hand it to him, he reads it and says " **** 'EM !,( throws it in his garbage) and says sit down and have a drink private"

LOL, he told me not to worry, eventually all the paperwork would catch up, and if they came lookin for me they would have to go through him !

I had 1 drink and was run out of the office, but i left knowing that if both of them were good with it, i may as well be too, lol

 

[charliemeyer007]

So I volunteered for the draft - first part of the volar army. I signed up a few days after my 18th birthday as part of the delayed entry program. I never registered for the draft, they had me sign a blank draft card. When I got out 2 years later and went to use my GI bill and apply for Pell Grants they ask me if I registered for the draft. I told them no and what happened - they were confused but I got my money and my degree.

 

[Tusken Raider]

My happiest day was when I turned 18 and drove to the post office to register for selective service.

My worst day was when I was getting ready to ship and they medicaled me out.

 

[PromptCritical]

And we got Clinton as a result.

And as a result of that we got Don't ask-Don't tell. And it has only gone down hill from there.

 

[JBryan314]

ON this date..January 21, 1977
President Jimmy Carter issued a blanket pardon to all those
good red blooded American youths who fled the country instead of reporting under Selective Service.

I don’t believe in running away from a fight but I also don’t think a government should have the authority to force a person to fight, kill and die. Logically speaking, if a government has the rightful authority to force you into military service and force you to fight, kill and die, then what do they NOT have the rightful authority to do to you or force you into? If they are able to draft your body, are they not able to draft your weapons? Can they not draft your money? Can they not draft your property?

I served with conscripts anyway, from other countries. I’m not keen on being in a foxhole with someone who didn’t sign up for it, nor am I keen on being in the trenches with someone who’s just there for the GI Bill and/or the Tricare.

There was something extra The US volunteers had that foreign conscripts never seemed to have. Can’t really put it into words, but it seemed like even the suckiest and laziest American soldiers had an edge over the average (or even above average) foreign conscripts. It’s like no matter how much we were hating life, it was always better to have a guy with you who knew deep down inside, he had asked for it.

Caveat: This is not a commentary on American conscripts from WWII or Korea or whatever. This is about today. Things are not the same today. Our people are not the same, the enemy is not the same, our government is not the same and our wars and the reasons for fighting them are not the same.

 

[zooeyhll]

ON this date..January 21, 1977
President Jimmy Carter issued a blanket pardon to all those
good red blooded American youths who fled the country instead of reporting under Selective Service.

I'm thinking of the example of George R. Martin, who originated of the popular "Game of Thrones" stories and TV series.

He claimed Conscientious Objector status in the late Sixties, as a way of avoiding the draft. He used the excuse that he was "opposed to violence and bloodshed of any kind".

Which is kinda funny, if you have ever read the books or seen the TV series. Which are filled with a HUGE amount of violence. And often of a particularly sadistic kind. Including graphic rapes.

If anything, the man is secretly a little TOO much addicted to violence. Perhaps if he had experienced the REAL thing as a soldier, he wouldn't have been so eager to make the millions of $$$ he has from the fantasy.

Instead his high-sounding stance gave him a cushy life as a college professor. And made him a celebrity, by writing about the grossest "fantasy" violence. To wow the video-game generation.

Very unlike the other young men his age, who experienced the REAL THING. And ended spending the rest of their lives psychically and often physically wounded.

 

[roseman]

I think I was in boot camp when the Army was searching for the draft dodger who would become president.

 

[Explainist]

I read a book by a Canadian who was so repulsed by draft dodgers in Toronto that he figured the best way to get as far from them as possible was to joint the Marines. So he crossed over to Buffalo and enlisted. they put him up in a motel overnight. there were 13 other Canadians there, for the same reason.

 

[Exarmyguy]

The estimate is 30,000 Canadians joined the American military and served in the Viet Nam. Thats small potatoes to the number of Americans that served there.

 

[Nomad 2nd]

A draft is slavery. Quite literally.

We had a war to stop slavery.


PS before you get your panties in a wad I am a medically retired Marine Combat vet.

 

[Jdog67]

I have mixed feelings about those that refused to fight in Vietnam. I absolutely believe there is a duty to fight to defend your country, but being forced to travel thousands of miles away to fight on foreign soil in a conflict for other people...that's different. Same applies to wars that only benefit corporate profits.

 

[ralfy]

"Donald Trump avoided the military draft 5 times, but it wasn't uncommon for young men from influential families to do so during the Vietnam War"

 

[roseman]

More fake news.

 

[Domesticated_Primate]

Tell you a funny GOV. story, so i entered delayed entry program, oct of 84, at 17 yrs. old....graduated high school may of 85, turned 18 july of 85, didnt even think about the whole selective service deal, was on delayed entry...right ?

go through basic aug / nov of 85, first duty station , 2nd ID camp casey korea, feb of 86 i get a letter from the Government, stating i was in violation , blah blah blah, if i do not contact the phone number...blah blah there would be a warrant issued for my arrest..blah...so i'm in a panic, go down to the CQ office, turns out my platoon SGT, and TOP were having a cocktail in TOPS office, i walk in and describe to them what the letter says, TOP says " lemme see that" ! i hand it to him, he reads it and says " **** 'EM !,( throws it in his garbage) and says sit down and have a drink private"

LOL, he told me not to worry, eventually all the paperwork would catch up, and if they came lookin for me they would have to go through him !

I had 1 drink and was run out of the office, but i left knowing that if both of them were good with it, i may as well be too, lol

Similar story here. Enlisted at 17 and got my draft bs in the mail when I was at my first duty station. I tossed it in the trash and never heard another word about it.

A draft is slavery. Quite literally.

We had a war to stop slavery.


PS before you get your panties in a wad I am a medically retired Marine Combat vet.

Agreed. Conscripted military service is a blatant violation of our constitution and what our country was founded on.

 

[bugbor]

Know a guy who was denied CO status and refused to report for induction. Served 2 years in prison, and I've more respect for him than those who went North.