Military Conscription & the Draft during the Vietnam War ... - Weebly

[Pages:9]Military Conscription & the Draft during the Vietnam War

Purpose The purpose of this lesson is to engage students in the history of the military draft during the Vietnam War. Specifically, this lesson will seek to demonstrate to students how the history and issues surrounding the draft during Vietnam is relevant for them today.

Objectives HSCE P1.1 Use close and critical reading strategies to read and analyze complex texts pertaining to social science; attend to nuance, make connections to prior knowledge, draw inferences, and determine main idea and supporting details. HSCE P1.2 Analyze point of view, context, and bias to interpret primary and secondary source documents. HSCE P1.3 Understand that diversity of interpretation arises from frame of reference. HSCE 8.2.4 Domestic Conflicts and Tensions ? Using core democratic values, analyze and evaluate the competing perspectives and controversies among Americans generated by U.S. Supreme Court decisions (e.g., Roe v Wade, Gideon, Miranda, Tinker, Hazelwood), the Vietnam War (anti-war and counter-cultural movements), environmental movement, women's rights movement, and the constitutional crisis generated by the Watergate scandal. (National Geography Standard 16, p. 216)

Materials Video "Reaping Scene from Hunger Games" Video "CBS News Footage of Draft Lottery" Vietnam War Casualty Statistics: CIA World Fact Book: Military Conscription Throughout the World Selective Service System: Facts About Registering for Selective Service Iraq & Afghanistan Casualty Statistics--Department of Defense: Military Conscription throughout the World-- o The World Fact Book Online: Central Intelligence Agency: o Selective Service Requirements: Selective Service System: Selective Service System: Order to Report for Induction o Draft Lottery: Dave, Pennsylvania, No. 021: Nothing Resembling A Thank You o Draft Lottery: Sim, New York, 1969. No. 102: What's Going On Here?

Description of Students Grade level: 10 One visually impaired student

 Motivational Level: o Range: 3-8 o Average: 5

Reading Level: 4.5-15.5

Pre-Reading For this lesson the pre-reading activity is the Anticipation Guide. I chose the anticipation guide because I want my students to be motivated to find the answers to the anticipation guide which targets the lessons goals.

Instructional Input Teacher will explain instructions for both the Anticipation Guide and Three-Level Guide activities. Teacher will also explain terms that some students may find unfamiliar.

During Reading Activity For this lesson the During Reading activity is the Three-Level Guide. I chose the Three-Level Guide because I want my students to read at different levels of thought and think about the complexity of the issue addressed in this lesson.

After Reading Activity For this lesson students will do journaling for the After Reading Activity. Students will choose two of three prompts which are written to help them apply what they learned about military conscription and the Vietnam War draft to their own values and understanding of the world today.

Name:______________________ Hour_______

Military Conscription & the Vietnam War Draft

Directions: Read each statement below. Answer True or False based on what you know about military conscription and the Vietnam War Draft. If you have no idea, make an educated guess. This is not a quiz-- have fun! (that is, if your idea of fun is studying military conscription)

T/F 1. Because women could not serve in combat during the Vietnam War, no female U.S. soldiers were killed in action.

T/F 2. Women are subject to military conscription in the nation of Israel.

T/F 3. During the Vietnam War, the majority of men eligible for the draft and then exempted from the draft were white and came from middle class households.

T/F 4. During the Vietnam War, males attending college had to stop classes when drafted and finish college after their military service.

T/F 5. Registering with the Selective Service System is optional for males who turn 18.

T/F 6. During the Vietnam War, draft eligible men were selected by their age only.

T/F 7. The youngest U.S. soldier to die in Vietnam was 18 years of age.

T/F 8. During the Vietnam War, married men with children could not be drafted.

T/F 9. During the Vietnam War, men who received their draft notice had an easier time finding employment than men who did not receive a draft notice because they were about to serve their country in uniform.

T/F 10. In the United States, women must register with the Selective Service System upon reaching the age of 21.

T/F 11. Immigrants and refugees in the United States are exempt from registering for selective service.

T/F 12. During the Vietnam War, the Selective Service System did not make exceptions except for men with disabilities or who were found unfit for duty after a rigorous physical examination.

T/F 13. Because of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, draft eligible black men had an easier time getting a deferment from the draft.

T/F 14. In Austria, all males must register for military service at the age of 17 and must serve before their 35th birthday.

Would you have been drafted?

The chart below is the results from the draft lottery held in 1969. Find and circle the number assigned to your birthdate.

Vietnam War Casualty Statistics

58,202 total deaths 8 nurses died -- 1 was KIA. 61% of the men killed were 21 or younger. 11,465 of those killed were younger than 20 years old. Of those killed, 17,539 were married. Average age of men killed: 23.1 years Five men killed in Vietnam were only 16 years old. The oldest man killed was 62 years old. DRAFTEES 25% (648,500) of total forces in country were draftees. Draftees accounted for 30.4% (17,725) of combat deaths in Vietnam. RACE AND ETHNIC BACKGROUND:

12.5% (7,241) were black; 1.2% belonged to other races.

170,000 Hispanics served in Vietnam; 3,070 (5.2% of total) died there.

70% of enlisted men killed were of North-west European descent.

14.6% (1,530) of non-combat deaths were among blacks.

34% of blacks who enlisted volunteered for the combat arms.

Overall, blacks suffered 12.5% of the deaths in Vietnam at a time when the percentage of blacks of military age was 13.5% of the total population.

Total Deaths in Iraq and Afghanistan Iraq: 4,489 Afghanistan: 2,320

Department of Defense:

Military Conscription throughout the World

Austria: registration requirement at age 17, the legal minimum age for voluntary military service; 18 is the legal minimum age for compulsory service; males under the age of 35 must complete basic military training (6 month duration); males 18 to 50 years old in the militia or inactive reserve are subject to compulsory service (2012)

Israel: 18 years of age for compulsory (Jews, Druzes) military service; 17 years of age for voluntary (Christians, Muslims, Circassians) military service; both sexes are obligated to military service; conscript service obligation 36 months for enlisted men, 21 months for enlisted women. (2013)

China: 18-24 years of age for selective compulsory military service, with a 2-year service obligation; no minimum age for voluntary service (all officers are volunteers)

Russia: 18-27 years of age for compulsory or voluntary military service; males are registered for the draft at 17 years of age; service obligation is 1 year. United States: No compulsory service. Almost all male U.S. citizens, and male immigrants living in the U.S., who are 18 through 25, are required to register with Selective Service. Almost all other male non-citizens are required to register, including undocumented immigrants, legal permanent residents, and refugees.

Central Intelligence Agency: The World Fact Book Selective Service System:

Draft Lottery: Dave, Pennsylvania, No. 021: Nothing Resembling A Thank You

"My lottery number was 21. I had left Pa. looking for work and my draft notice followed me out to Chicago. The draft center there looked like it had been revived from WW I. As we walked in there were people outside yelling for us to burn our draft cards. Someone was yelling "Here come more baby killers". One idiot had a bucket of some kind of blood (later someone said it was pig blood) and with a big paint brush was splashing us. All I wanted to do was to get back to Pa. to say goodbye to my family, but they told me I was too close to Canada to trust me to go home. Finally, I signed a paper that I would report in Pa. and they would induct me from there. On the way back out were more people. Some were spitting at us then somebody hit somebody and I thought I'm not even a

soldier yet, so I'll be damned if I'm going to fight when I'd be fighting soon enough.

There I was not old enough to drink or vote, but I was supposed to feel honored. I was chosen to fight for reasons that are still eluding me. Now they run these ads that if you see a soldier to walk up and tell them thank you. No one ever said anything that resembled "Thank you" to me. At least over there a guy knew who their enemy was, but back here it was worse. The words and attitude of the blissfully ignorant hurt more than any bullet could and it seemed most everyone was your enemy. I just tried to forget everything about those times and days-I just wanted it behind me and get on with my life. Now when they ask vets to stand on patriotic holidays I remember what happened the last time I stood up."

Draft Lottery: Sim, New York, 1969. No. 102: What's Going On Here?

"I recall riding on a bus to Raleigh with others for our physical exam--we were a number of white Duke students and many Durham residents of color. My mood on the trip to the physical was one of anxiety but basic trust-- the system would be fair, of course, as it had always been for me. Being herded, often naked, through the exam process was overwhelming, but the experience also began to shape my thinking and feeling in a new direction: "What's happening here?"

On our bus trip back to Durham, I was in a state of disbelief and struggling to test reality. How could it be that the white Duke student in front of me--healthy enough to play football on scholarship and balancing a stack

of private clinic records on his knee--was not physically fit enough to be drafted and serve? How could it be that the black "townie" sitting behind me, who looked like he'd never seen a private physician in his life, was deemed in great shape and physically fit to serve if his number was called? The echoing question was much louder and more persistent now: "What's going on here?"

For me, my trip to Raleigh for our physicals began a much deeper and life-changing journey of political awareness and spiritual formation. I remain grateful to the students and faculty at Duke, and the residents of Durham where I worshipped and did community service, for our life and work together in the late sixties during those times of great change.



Military Conscription and the Vietnam War Draft Three-Level Guide

Level I Directions: Put an "X" next to the statement which can be supported by the text.

_____1. Of U.S. soldiers killed in the Vietnam War, most were married.

_____ 2. 11,465 of U.S soldiers killed in Vietnam were younger than 20 years old.

_____3. The majority of draftees during the Vietnam War were 18 years old.

_____4. The youngest U.S. soldier to die was 16 years old.

Level II Directions: Put an "X" next to the statements that can be inferred by the facts within the text.

_____1. The Vietnam War draft was fair and equally drafted men from all different education and income levels.

_____ 2. The draft played a large role in the growing unpopularity of the Vietnam War in the U.S.

_____3. Many Vietnam veterans who had been drafted and fought in the war questioned the reasons for the war.

_____4. Black soldiers played a minor role in combat during the Vietnam War because they were so few in number.

Level III Directions: Put an "X" next to a statement which can be supported by the text and can be supported by life in general.

_____1. Trouble comes from the direction we least expect it.

_____ 2. They who voluntarily put themselves under the power of a tyrant deserve whatever fate they receive.

_____3. As in the body, so in the state, each member in his proper sphere must work for the common good.

_____4. We learn by the misfortunes of others.

 ................
................

In order to avoid copyright disputes, this page is only a partial summary.

Google Online Preview   Download