Vietnam Veterans Day

[ithacaartist]

Originally Posted by Fla.Mallard

I'll second this.

I was one of the lucky ones who were in college and got a dispensation until I graduated. After my Navy physical I kept waiting to be called. My number wasn't near the top and the call never came.

I thank and admire the men who did serve but regret that politics insured that the war was unwinnable.

I was at Clarkson for my second year when the first draft lottery was held. I had a gig in the student carrier current FM station, and we watched the teletype as the numbers were drawn. My buddy Lloyd Baum's was 6, and he figured--college deferment or not--that he was toast. Mine finally popped up, 327, coincidentally the C.I.D. of one of my favorite Chevy engines. For those who didn't enlist, the Selective Service hung like the Sword of Damocles, waiting to drop. My high number definitely relieved me of the stress of contemplating such an unknown fate.

Our involvement there was a big mistake, fueled by lots of cultural and political ignorance, and perhaps some left over hubris from WWII that was disastrously applied to Southeast Asia. Demonstrations that we'd learned anything from the conflict have been scant since. We continue to send young men into harm's way for little practical or tactical gain. We thank those who rose to the call (or couldn't escape the draft) for their service and the trauma they surely endured. My mettle escaped being tested in this particular way, but it's a shame others died or were maimed in my stead.