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I'm curious why it seems Mormons seemed to get a pass in a lot of ways from military service when the Vietnam war was on.
I was a regular grunt with the Aussies and meet a US 82nd grunt who was from Utah who was not a Mormon.
Both he and his brother were drafted but his neighbors who had four sons and were Mormon had none drafted.
If it happened as he said, why did it happen ?
Why was so called missionary service more important than serving in the military for some ?
Is there many Mormons from the Nam era with the CBI ?
I was there too with W Coy in 2RAR-ANZAC Bn - if you check the net (not sure where but I have read it - & know it to be fact) there were Mormon Missionaries in Nam during the war. So who were you with?
A lot of people got passes during the Vietnam War. Generally, these people came from wealthier, connected families.
I don't have a problem with not wanting to serve in that war and taking legal means to avoid it - provided that one was not a supporter of the war. However, if one supported the war - and supported forcing people under penalty of law to serve in the war via the draft, yet refused themselves to serve - then I have a problem, and a major one, with such a person.
Anyone who thinks a foe is such a dire threat to ones country that people need to be conscripted and sent to perform lethal combat missions, that person needs to be front and center in volunteering to serve - Mormon or otherwise.
I'm curious why it seems Mormons seemed to get a pass in a lot of ways from military service when the Vietnam war was on.
I was a regular grunt with the Aussies and meet a US 82nd grunt who was from Utah who was not a Mormon.
Both he and his brother were drafted but his neighbors who had four sons and were Mormon had none drafted.
If it happened as he said, why did it happen ?
Why was so called missionary service more important than serving in the military for some ?
Is there many Mormons from the Nam era with the CBI ?
I know several Vietnam Veterans who are Mormon. Seemed like a weird question to me. Also, I've no idea what CBI is.
The Vietnam Draft was a crapshoot. We all know that. The guy from Utah might have been unlucky on the Lottery Draft. The family down the street might have been able to defer if their sons went on missions, but as I understand it they'd have had equal chance of getting drafted after they got back. Another possibility is college. College students got deferments. Was your friend in college when he and his brother were drafted? Did they skip going to college entirely? That too would increase their relative chances of going to Vietnam. There's just too many variables to offer you a solid answer. The important thing to remember is that young Mormon men were serving missions before Nam and have continued to serve missions since. Some few may have used it to dodge the war, who knows? But in general, they'd have served missions with or without the Vietnam War.
One thing I've also found is that there are a lot of Mormons in the military in general.
Not sure if the OP is even watching this thread. Also not sure why it got resurrected, but it's all good.
I was there too with W Coy in 2RAR-ANZAC Bn - if you check the net (not sure where but I have read it - & know it to be fact) there were Mormon Missionaries in Nam during the war. So who were you with?
On this site - Latter-day Saints in the Vietnam War (Woodger) - CESNUR 2002
you will find that there were over 23,000 Vietnam Veterans who were from UTAH ALONE that were LDS or Mormons. As I mentioned above I was with W Coy ANZAC Bn and in our company alone there were 4 that I am aware of. I am still curious to know your unit as you state that you served in Vietnam - so who was your unit???
Interesting, that is what this grunt said that Mormons stated they had to serve their mission before their military service.
Of course getting married and having a pregnant wife during the Mission time would help one avoid those nice little walks in the Jungle humping the pig other wise known as the M60.
Mistake, that should be CIB.
I believe in NO deferments for any reason at all, MY CSM had four kids and having a family should give one more reason to serve.
Giving kids deferments for being at university was obscene, it lead to the USA having the so called project 100,000 and ended with kids whom could not read nor write being Mortar crews, which ended with blue on blue incidents ie US mortar bombs impacting on US troops.
The only deferments should have been for the uneducated or for medical reasons.
YOU SAY YOU WERE A VIETNAM VET WITH AN AUSTRALIAN UNIT? YOUR SITE NAME IS "NZ RUGBY" which to me is "NEW ZEALAND RUGBY"
If you were a V Vet then you possibly were with an ANZAC Bn. I am positive that if you were a V Vet with an ANZAC Bn that some of the members of your own unit were Latter-Day Saints or Mormans. I am also very much aware and have met with some US V Vets who are Mormons. I am a Vietnam Vet and I am proud to say I served with 2 ANZAC Bn's and I am also proud to say I TOO AM A MORMON.
And secondly, Muhammed Ali didn't get any draft deferment. He did jail time because he refused to be inducted into the armed service.
Muhammad never went to jail. He claimed C.O. status for religious reasons and refused to be inducted into the Army. He was convicted of draft evasion and appealed his conviction. In Clay v. The United States the Supreme Court of the United States unanimously overturned his conviction.
Interesting, that is what this grunt said that Mormons stated they had to serve their mission before their military service.
Of course getting married and having a pregnant wife during the Mission time would help one avoid those nice little walks in the Jungle humping the pig other wise known as the M60.
Mistake, that should be CIB.
I believe in NO deferments for any reason at all, MY CSM had four kids and having a family should give one more reason to serve.
Giving kids deferments for being at university was obscene, it lead to the USA having the so called project 100,000 and ended with kids whom could not read nor write being Mortar crews, which ended with blue on blue incidents ie US mortar bombs impacting on US troops.
The only deferments should have been for the uneducated or for medical reasons.
YOU SAY YOU WERE A VIETNAM VET WITH AN AUSTRALIAN UNIT? YOUR SITE NAME IS "NZ RUGBY" which to me is "NEW ZEALAND RUGBY"
If you were a V Vet then you possibly were with an ANZAC Bn. I am positive that if you were a V Vet with an ANZAC Bn that some of the members of your own unit were Latter-Day Saints or Mormans. I am also very much aware and have met with some US V Vets who are Mormons. I am a Vietnam Vet and I am proud to say I served with 2 ANZAC Bn's and I am also proud to say I TOO AM A MORMON.
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