Perhaps so, Janie. There were other options available...David Eisenhower (Nixon's son-in-law) joined the Navy Reserve as soon as he graduated from Amherst in 1970 (his draft number was 30) and our beloved leader's stellar military service is well known. It was pretty difficult to get into the Reserves and Guard, in some places, at the time.

My brother, on the other hand (with a draft number of 350-something), was politely asked by a judge in Salt Lake City to volunteer to be drafted in 1970, even though he was a full-time student. A Journalism major and German minor, he ended up assigned to an Army newspaper in Stuttgart and complained bitterly about his fate. I was in Vietnam at the time, and didn't really want to listen.

BTW, 49.2% of the Army casualties in Vietnam and 94.8% of the Marines were volunteers. The Navy and Air Force didn't use the draft. I include members of the Reserves and Guard who were killed in these numbers. If officers are included (and they were as exposed as anyone else, except for the REMFs in Saigon), than just about 70% of the combat deaths in-country were volunteers.