In the four major wars of the 20th Century millions of American males were drafted into the armed forces. There had always been a moral case for national service as well as a military case, and often that came to the fore. Conscription during the Vietnam War | State Library of South … The Vietnam War had considerable effects on Canada, but Canada and Canadians also affected the war.. The most destructive were the New York Draft Riots.At least 119 people died in the riots, which spanned three days in July 1863. After the war, compulsory military training gradually wound down. Those called up were selected through a ballot of birthdays. The linking of conscription with Vietnam greatly multiplied the strength of the protest movement, which fell into two distinct camps. During the Vietnam War era, between 1964 and 1973, the U.S. military drafted 2.2 million American men out of an eligible pool of 27 million. The Vietnamese do not know or acknowledge the exact day they were born. The Canadian government did not officially participate in the war. For more than 80 years after the first British settlement, the only professional soldiers in Australia were members of British Army garrisons.The first conflicts in which large numbers of Australian-born soldiers fought overseas were the New Zealand Wars, between 1863 and 1872, although almost all of these—about 2,500 men—served in New Zealand colonial units, or the British Army. Over 63,000 Australian men were conscripted (drafted) during the war. Vietnam Lotteries A lottery drawing – the first since 1942 – was held on December 1, 1969, at Selective Service National Headquarters in Washington, D.C. How did they know you had flat feet? Australia's involvement in the Vietnam War began with a small commitment of 30 military advisors in 1962, and increased over the following decade to a peak of 7,672 Australian personnel following the Menzies Government's April 1965 decision to upgrade its military commitment to South Vietnam's security. But many of the soldiers who went were drafted into the service, ineligible for a student deferment because … Two hundred were killed, just under half of all Australian fatalities. Conscripts were not part of the Australian forces who served in Korea, Malaya and Borneo. ‘People loved the idea that their sons would go out slouching and sullen, and return straight-backed and disciplined. During those years, the Selective Service used a lottery to determine the order in which draft age men would be called up for duty, usually in Vietnam. It was a process that would cause great debate between its supporters and detractors in the years that followed. Rear Vision puts contemporary events in their historical context, answering the question, ‘How did it come to this?’. | … ‘Throughout the period of this national service scheme it had about 80 per cent support from the voters, Labor, Liberal, everyone. The issue split the Labor Party as well, forcing prime minister Billy Hughes to cross the floor and create a new party that continued to govern in a conservative coalition. After their full-time service, they were required to serve for 3 1/2 years part time. Therefore, it was pure coincidence that two consecutive dates ‘But because such large numbers of young men were involved, it took an enormous number of professional soldiers to train them, and eventually this became a major task of the army in the 1950s and it became slowly apparent that it wasn't really worth doing on a military basis, and only the moral arguments remained. While children do receive lì xì (lucky money) at Tết, my students were quick to tell me this isn’t in celebration of their increase in age per se. In 1973, the draft ended and the U.S. converted to an All-Volunteer military. The first was held in October 1916 and was narrowly lost 49 per cent to 51 per cent. If you haven’t had your birthday yet, Vietnamese age = Western age + 2. When I teach students about the Vietnam War I like to get all their birthdays and tell them who would have been drafted and who wouldn't have. Update to the latest version for the best experience of FUSE. Draft Lottery results for the Vietnam War in 1969 – Bobscaping You must provide a credit to the ABC as follows: Clip/Main Title [Luck of the draw: the Vietnam 'birthday ballot'] provided by the Australian Broadcasting Corporation. The U.S. held its first draft lottery on Dec. 1, 1969, giving young men a random number tied to their birthdays. 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