Did anyone see the parents of the male reserve officer who is in most the photographs on TV being interviewed the other night? They were in total denial. And you have to wonder what their motivations were for making media appearances. Money?

McGrath, many of those who served in Vietnam weren't conscripts. The draft lottery, inactive since WWII, wasn't reinstated until 1969. Many men without deferements simply refused to report for duty, and especially if they were from one of the major cities in the US, they knew there wasn't much chance of being found by the federales and being taken in, if they kept moving around. Many who didn't qualify for deferments also filed CO claims, knowing that the appeals process might be dragged out until the war ended.

But all those who served in Vietnam prior to 1970, weren't conscripts.

Jim McCallan, you can criticize me all you want for making sweeping generalizations, but you've just articulated the same argument I have made here about the culture of violence in the military, regardless of it's nationality.