What are you trying to tell me Bill? Are you suggesting that Cheney had no reason to fear being called up? History says that isn't so.
1. July 28, 1965: US orders 50,000 troops to Vietnam
President Johnson has commited a further 50,000 US troops to the conflict in Vietnam.
Monthly draft calls will increase from 17,000 to 35,000 - the highest level since the Korean War, when between 50,000 and 80,000 men were called up each month.
It will take the US force in Vietnam up to 125,000 but officials say at this stage demands should be met by conscription, without calling upon the reserves.
By the end of 1965, draft call-ups—which three years earlier had averaged some 6,000 a month—increased to 40,200 per month.
Conclusion: he and everyone of conscription age had every reason to believe he may be called up under United States Code Title 50, sections relating to Military Selective Service.
2. How many were inducted? From 1948 until 1973, during both peacetime and periods of conflict, men were drafted to fill vacancies in the armed forces which could not be filled through voluntary means.
In 1973, the draft ended and the U.S. converted to an All-Volunteer military.
Inductions (by year) - bold section highlights where Cheney was elligible for Selective Service.
1959: 96,153
1960: 86,602
1961: 118,586
1962: 82,060
1963: 119,265
1964: 112,386
1965: 230,991
1966: 382,010
1967: 228,263
1968: 296,406
1969: 283,586
1970: 162,746
1971: 94,092
1972: 49,514
1973: 646
Source: Government site -- sss.gov
3. Was deferrment due to college a popular strategy to avoid service? Yes.
"Between 1965 and 1975 the enrollment rate of college-age men in the United States rose and then fell abruptly. Many contemporary observers (e.g., Davis and Dolbeare, 1968) attributed the surge in college attendance to draft avoidance behavior. Under a policy first introduced in the Korean War, the Selective Service issued college deferments to enrolled men that delayed their eligibility for conscription. These deferments provided a strong incentive to remain in school for men who wanted to avoid the draft. Men who were issued college deferments remained at risk of induction after the completion of their studies (technically, until the age of 35). As we argue below, however, men who had finished college were relatively unlikely to be drafted." -- Going to College to Avoid the Draft: The Unintended Legacy of the Vietnam War |
