September 19, 1969 — President Nixon announces the cancellation of the draft calls for November and December. He reduced the draft call by 50,000 (32,000 in November and 18,000 in December). This move accompanied his twin program of turning the war over to the South Vietnamese concurrent with U.S. troop withdrawals and was calculated to quell antiwar protests by students returning to college campuses after the summer. (Source: History.com)
A Complaint and a Blogging Note —
Here’s my complaint: I was drafted in December 1965, after my student deferment had expired, so the federal government’s draft cancellation decision in ‘69 was four years too late for me (and certainly it was too late for vast numbers of other young men, many of whom died in Vietnam while fighting a war that made no sense except to greedy weapons manufacturers and irrational anti-Communist politicians). Hmm.
Well, now, for whatever it might be worth, here’s my blogging note: future postings (and my reading) will be more concerned with American history since my arrival on this planet and the beginning of Harry Truman’s presidency. I want that to be my blogging focus while I still have a bit of time left until I’m forced to leave this planet. To that end, I’m currently reading relevant portions of the book shown below. And so it goes.