The 'Conservative Right' likes to blame the Liberals and Hippies about 'Nam . . .

[CaptnKirk]

I never experienced a single display of disrespect from the 'Liberals' or from the 'Hippies' when
I got back in country from 'Nam, but I did observe the decline of support for the war first hand.
The 'Hippies' were too stoned to care.

I can place a single action upon the backlash to the war and those who were involved.

The 'Cause' was when Lyndon Johnson ended the deferments for the 'Rich Kids' in college.
They, with their rich parents money, started the deluge of mail to Congress that opposed the War,
and they - the affluent, backed by Daddy's money and Mommy's friends wrote to undermine
the American Military action against the war in Viet Nam - They were too self important to be
included with the poor 'trash' society that was conscripted to fight and die in a foriegn nation.

These are the same creeps that wrap themselves in the flag - while having never served, that
make up the present cocre of the Republican Conservative Party - anyone can die for our
perceived cause, but not us, we're above that, we're too damn good. (NeoCons)

I think that several of the 'Old Salts' - former Vets from that war, will concur.

Johnson Ends Student Deferments

The whole War timeline is there - for those few who wish to read, maybe understand a little,
but I will <CLIP> 3 paragraphs from January of 1966:
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The year 1966 saw increasing US military presence in Vietnam. The fighting intensified dramatically, as did the protest movement within the United States.

In January 1966, the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee took a stand against the Vietnam War, saying 'We believe the United States government has been deceptive in claims of concern for the freedom of the Vietnamese people, just as the government has been deceptive in claiming concern for the freedom of the colored people in such other countries as the Dominican Republic, the Congo, South Africa, Rhodesia [now Zimbabwe], and in the United States itself'.

That same month, President Johnson's administration abolished automatic student deferments from the draft. Student anger over the escalation of the war in Vietnam became more personal and intense. Students for a Democratic Society, that obscure little group that first called for a protest against US involvement in Vietnam, became a leader of the student movement against the war. SDS formed more than 300 new chapters on campuses across the country by the end of the year.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

 

[Perknose]

Originally posted by: CaptnKirk
The year 1966 saw increasing US military presence in Vietnam. The fighting intensified dramatically, as did the protest movement within the United States.

In January 1966 . . .

That same month, President Johnson's administration abolished automatic student deferments from the draft.

Cap'n, I know you were there, but so was I. I don't know what Johnson did in 1966 about student deferments, but I do know that when I graduated high school in 1967, my having been accepted to college would have gotten me out of serving, if I had so chosen.

IIRC, it wasn't until 1971, when I WAS in college, that they ended the student deferment. By then, it didn't matter to me.

Ayup:

"Before changes the draft made in 1971, a man could qualify for a student deferment if he could show he was a full-time student making satisfactory progress toward a degree. Under the current draft law, a college student can have his induction postponed only until the end of the current semester. A senior can be postponed until the end of the academic year."

http://usgovinfo.about.com/library/weekly/aa052100b.htm