The United States military conscripted approximately 1.9 million service personnel into their ranks over the course of the Vietnam War. Commonly known as the draft, conscription had been conducted in the U.S. through the Selective Service System (SSS) since 1917.
A Brief History of the Vietnam Draft. In the early 1960s, nearly all 18 to 26-year-old male U.S. citizens and most noncitizens living were required to register for the draft. Following registration, the U.S. Selective Service (SS) classified registrants as available for service, deferred, or ineligible for service.
Vietnam War: annual number of U.S. military personnel conscripted 1964-1973. The United States military conscripted approximately 1.9 million service personnel into their ranks over the course of the Vietnam War.
The total number of men who fled the country to avoid the Vietnam draft is hard to quantify but estimates range from 40,000 to as many as 100,000. The most popular destinations were Canada and Sweden, and many never returned.
The total number of men who fled the country to avoid the Vietnam draft is hard to quantify but estimates range from 40,000 to as many as 100,000. The most popular destinations were Canada and Sweden, and many never returned.
In the late 1960s, dodging the Vietnam draft was a preoccupation for many young men—driving some to desperate measures to avoid serving in an unpopular war. Men enrolled in college to obtain student deferments (Card and Lemieux 2001) and committed felonies (Kuziemko 2010).
Myth: Common belief is that most Vietnam veterans were drafted. Fact: 2/3 of the men who served in Vietnam were volunteers. 2/3 of the men who served in World War II were drafted. Approximately 70% of those killed in Vietnam were volunteers.
This was the first military draft in the United States since World War II. With capsules filled, they were poured into a tumbler and drawn, one-by-one, until all 366 dates were assigned a number. September 14th, April 24th, December 30th, and so on, until the last date, June 8th, was called.
It was the first time a lottery system had been used to select men for military service in the US since 1942, and established the priority of call based on the birth dates of registrants born between January 1, 1944 to December 31, 1950.