[RANGERAIRBORNE]

Good Grief! Are you serious? National Guard slots were guarded like Fort Knox during Vietnam- they were for the sons of the "upper classes", who did, at most, six months "active duty for training", then went back to their REAL lives. (Most did not even have to do that much). It was essentially legalized draft-dodging. You did NOT get a NG appointment without "political influence", which usually meant that your family could buy the spot for you. They were worth more than gold.

[Cathryn Mataga]

Well, sorry, but I was just asking. Chill out dude. I was only 8 years old in 1969, so I don't have any direct knowledge of the times.

[patton]

Hmmmm. These guys are in for an unpleasent surprise.

I am being nominated to our local SS Board, and I CANNOT BE BRIBED.

[Redleg Duke]

I don't think it was quite that way. For those of us who joined the Guard prior to the Viet Nam War, for patriotic reasons, there were plenty of slots open and lots of grief given to us by our "cooler" classmates for "throwing away the best six years of our lives". I went to basic in the summer of 1965, leaving an infantry unit at about 65% strength. I returned to a unit full up, with my classmates begging me to get them in.

In Wisconsin, it was "first come, first served". This crap about "political influence" is overblown and used frequently to discredit political oponents. Many men and women served honorably in the National Guard. I find it ironic that the guys who were drafted, did two years in Germany or Fort Dix, New Jersey, and then got out to serve two years in a reserve or guard unit still looked down on those of us who spent the full six years in the Guard. Some of us ended up spending a little more time, say thirty-two years...not to avoid the draft...but because it was the right thing to do.

Criticize the politicos all you want, but don't tar us regular folks with the same brush. We may not have all the merit badges, but we served.