The Vietnam Protest was a movement against the United States involvement in the war, in addition to the draft. This draft would kill thousands of young American men to die, and protests were being held during this time on college campuses throughout the nation. Many young men claimed that the reason they were protesting was because they didn’t want to be forced to fight in a war that wasn’t their, and one they barely knew about. According to this film, the draft was initially created to give all men an equal chance to fight and represent their country in times of war. However, as it was soon discovered, there were many loopholes in the picking process. If a man was in college or was college educated, his draft admittance was deferred. Additionally, if a man was married, he was also deferred. This concept angered many people, and from this came the Vietnam Protest Movement.
I completely see the argument that the protestors had, and if I were a young man during this time period I would be scared every day that I would randomly be called to serve in the war. Moreover, I also see why the draft was created and being used, and why it was hard to cut their cords with Vietnam after being involved. I also see why men wanted to serve, and why they were proud to be serving as American soldiers. However, I don’t agree with the idea that certain men were exempt from war and others were not. Just because a man wasn’t married doesn’t mean that he doesn’t have a family or girlfriend that loves him very much, and just because a man isn’t college educated doesn’t mean the value of his life should be measured in a different manner than someone who was. I also think that people should be working together during times of stress, and this movement created a huge divide amongst the men of America; those who wanted to serve, and those who didn’t.
I also agree that I would be terrified with the idea of being drafted at any moment during the war. One of the things that frustrates me the most about the Vietnam war is the fact that the government was fully aware that it was a lost cause, but they still did not pull out because of the investments that had already been put into the effort.
I agree, I think that the loopholes in the draft were basically designed so upper class white males did not have to serve in the war. This is completely unjust and I think that it would make me want to fight less because the only reason I was not exempt was due to the fact that I was not rich or white. I also think that the government should have done a lot more and a lot sooner to get the troops out of Vietnam because they knew it was not going anywhere.