Percentage of male population served in military

MombaBomba

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I am attempting to find the statistics regarding percentage of males who did serve in the military when the draft was around. What percentage of those eligible, were drafted? I can locate percentage of veterans during a given year, but not that particular breakdown. I am probably using the wrong parameters on my searches. Any information or suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

Thank you.
 
From The Nightengale's Song (an excellent book everyone should read):
"About 27 million men came of draft age between 1964 and 1973, roughly the decade of the Vietnam War. Of that number, 11 million entered the service either as draftees or volunteers. More than 2 million served in the war zone...Sixteen million, or 60 percent, of the 27 million draft-age men escaped military service by a variety of legal and illegal means." He gets those numbers from Chance and Cirumstance, a 1978 book by Lawrence Baskir and William Strauss about men avoiding the draft. Obviously that's not the whole draft period and a good percentage of those 16 million probably had very legitimate reasons for not entering the service, but there you go.
 
in 1940, the Burke-Wadsworth Act is passed by Congress, by wide margins in both houses, and the first peacetime draft in the history of the United States is imposed. Selective Service was born.
The registration of men between the ages of 21 and 36 began exactly one month later, as Secretary of War Henry L. Stimson, who had been a key player in moving the Roosevelt administration away from a foreign policy of strict neutrality, began drawing draft numbers out of a glass bowl. The numbers were handed to the president, who read them aloud for public announcement. There were some 20 million eligible young men—50 percent were rejected the very first year, either for health reasons or illiteracy (20 percent of those who registered were illiterate).
In November 1942, with the United States now a participant in the war, and not merely a neutral bystander, the draft ages expanded; men 18 to 37 were now eligible. Blacks were passed over for the draft because of racist assumptions about their abilities and the viability of a mixed-race military. But this changed in 1943, when a “quota” was imposed, meant to limit the numbers of blacks drafted to reflect their numbers in the overall population, roughly 10.6 percent of the whole. Initially, blacks were restricted to “labor units,” but this too ended as the war progressed, when they were finally used in combat.
“Conscientious objector” status was granted to those who could demonstrate “sincerity of belief in religious teachings combined with a profound moral aversion to war.” Quakers made up most of the COs, but 75 percent of those Quakers who were drafted fought. COs had to perform alternate service in Civilian Public Service Camps, which entailed long hours of hazardous work for no compensation. About 5,000 to 6,000 men were imprisoned for failing to register or serve the nation in any form; these numbers were comprised mostly of Jehovah’s Witnesses.
By war’s end, approximately 34 million men had registered, and 10 million served with the military.

= History Channel Website - link is found below Ancient Aliens, American Pickers and Swamp People
 
... words ...

Apologies in advance to @MombaBomba for the threadjack.

@Hurricane12 : Welcome back! As a longtime lurker, I have really missed your presence on these forums. You should know that your opinions and perspectives (and this applies to you as well @NavyHoops ) also apply to the NROTC side and I have always looked forward to what you have to say. As an old (former enlisted) parent, I have often worried about giving bad gouge to my Mid, but your posts have always managed to reassure me that I’m not all that out of touch … despite what my Mid thinks at times. :rolleyes: Again, welcome back! And thanks to both of you!
 
Apologies in advance to @MombaBomba for the threadjack.

@Hurricane12 : Welcome back! As a longtime lurker, I have really missed your presence on these forums. You should know that your opinions and perspectives (and this applies to you as well @NavyHoops ) also apply to the NROTC side and I have always looked forward to what you have to say. As an old (former enlisted) parent, I have often worried about giving bad gouge to my Mid, but your posts have always managed to reassure me that I’m not all that out of touch … despite what my Mid thinks at times. :rolleyes: Again, welcome back! And thanks to both of you!

Sep 1, 2009 - 22 May 2015 without a word...

:eek:
o_O
:D
 
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