"Dale Scroggins" wrote in message
om...
Tbone wrote:
Jim
I'm curious why you keep using the term "draft dodger" when the guy
was a reservist.
Reservist make up a large part of the forces in Iraq..are they "draft
dodgers" too??
Doesn't make sense to me!

You must be a youngster, Tbone.

During the Vietnam era, joining the National Guard or Reserve guaranteed
that you were very unlikely to ever see combat. Or leave your home
state, more than likely. It wasn't really a war, you see. We were
merely assisting the RSVN with some training, hardware, and a few
troops. No need to call up the reserves or Guard.

Here's the drill from the '60s. You turn 18, and graduate high school,
you're eligible for the draft. You could, however, enroll in college
and be given a student deferment. But you had to keep your grades up
and make progress, or the college would notify your local draft board.

Or you could, early in the decade, get married. The marriage deferment
fell out of favor, though, so besides marriage, the wife needed to be
pregnant. Serious business.

George W. was about to lose his student deferment. He had been in
school the maximum number of semesters, I think, and had barely kept the
requisite grade point to keep his deferment. But that student deferment
was about to expire. He could either marry an already pregnant female
or join the reserves.

Joining the reserves or National Guard was a real problem for most of
us, though. Since membership in either one almost guaranteed a nice,
safe, uneventful stay here in the states, a LOT of young men saw that as
an attractive option. So all units, nationwide, were entirely, totally
full, with two- to three-year waiting lists. Understandable, right?

Another very good point. During the war, it seemed like the only people who
could get in were sons of politicians and their friends.

My dad, a decorated WWII Marine vet, tried to get me in through his
connections. No go. The list was impossible unless you were the son of a
Congressman, a Senator, or a foreign ambassador.

George W. Bush undoubtedly made the grade in that regard.

Ed Huntress