"History is a Weapon - There Was No Rules At All" Topic

"In an article in the New York Times Magazine on March 24, 1968, reporter Sol Stern observed, "In Vietnam between 1961 and 1964, Negroes accounted for more than 20 percent of Army fatalities, even though they represented only 12.6 percent of Army personnel in Vietnam" and even less in the general U.S. population. "Simply put, the statistics show that the Negro in the army was more likely than his white buddy to be sent to Vietnam in the first place; once there, he was more likely to wind up in a front-line combat unit; and within the combat unit was more likely than the white to be killed or wounded." Black Vietnam vets who were not killed in Vietnam returned from the war to encounter persistent racism and widespread unemployment. Many became openly critical of the war and joined organizations fighting against war and for civil rights. Stern quotes one returned Black veteran from Vietnam as saying, "I would never fight on a foreign shore for America again. . . . The only place I would fight is right here." Here Haywood Kirkland describes the Vietnam war and its aftermath from the standpoint of a Black GI…."
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We know the draft during the war in SE Asia generally took from the lower economic strata in US society at that time. As many couldn't afford to go to college, etc., to be deferred from the draft.

Regardless, racism was rampant at that time. And seems in some cases it still is.

More reasons I don't favor a draft, only in the most extreme circumstances. Especially today, again for a number of reasons.

However, the latest Draft "story". Is since some of the last group of elected and appointed gov't officials before 2016. Thought it would be a good idea to open up combat arms to females.

A judge recently deemed the Draft unconstitutional. If males have to sign up at 18 for draft, and in turn be drafted if need be. Than females at 18 should have to do the same.

But I have a very hard time thinking gov't officials will make a law that says their daughters must sign up for the draft at 18. Like males have to, as it's the law.

Or let their daughters be drafted and sent to war. I think this is the same situation as before. Where many of the lower economic strata will get drafted … again …

It is quite difficult to get a definitive answer on US casualties for the US wars in South East Asia.

There is a lot of anecdotal evidence of more African Americans in combat than statistically proportional. There are many ways to rationalise this – fewer deferments, fewer blacks with the education to get rear echelon jobs, etc.

I would be interested in well conducted research on this issue but I won't hold my breath.

The 1961-64 period of fighting did not see large scale US troop deployments or intense combat. Wikipedia has US deaths in 1961-64 at about 400, while 1965 has more than 1900.

I'm sure records were kept and the raw data to do a survey existed but may be lost, buried or even destroyed.

As for the draft, I understand a lower percentage of those being sent to Vietnam were drafted than in WW2.

I am anti-conscription for a number of reasons. The time when a huge army of ill-trained conscripts could beat a small army of trained professionals is over and unlikely to return. Draft registration remains for political reasons only. They can register women too if they want. The US is not going to put it into effect so it's moot.