The number of the “millennial,” group, ages 18-28; born in 1981 to the present, who have served in the Armed Forces is 2%.
Millennials (b 1981-present) 2%
Gen Xers (B. 1965-1980) 6%
Baby Boomers (b. 1946-1964) 13%
Silent Generation (b. 1928-1945) 24%
And which generation became the titans of industry? I say the ones had the most to do and the least to say. Think those days will return? Or has the Tower of Babel consumed us?
What’s a “titan of Industry” ?
Bill Gates, Steve Jobs, Warren Buffett ?
Is there any reason to believe that being in the military is superior to other callings ?
I was referencing the Generation more than the veteran aspect.
Percentages don’t mean anything without the number it is a percentage of.
There were roughly 140 million Americans in 1944, the height of WWII. Since mostly men served in the military and women in auxiliary forces, this 24% doesn’t say whether it’s of the total population, or men. There were about 10 million men in uniform in 1944 and 1945.
In 2010, there are 310 million Americans. There are about 2.5 million men and women in active duty uniform and about another million in the reserves and National Guard.
WWII and GWOT are incomparable. We could assume, though, that if China invades Japan and Russia Europe, simultaneously, that absent a global thermonuclear war, America would put an Army of at least 10 million in the field, and perhaps more, raising the “millennial” percentage considerably.
And finally, most of the Silent Generation and Baby Boomers were drafted. The Gen Xers and Millennials are volunteers.
Mark: The Silent Generation are those Born between 1928 and 1945 and were too young to serve in WW II but were eligible to serve for Korea, Viet Nam, Cold War and Iraq I. Baby Boomers Born between 1946 and 1964 were eligible to serve for Viet Nam, Cold War, Iraq I, GWOT and Iraq II. The DRAFT was phased out in the early 1970s and we went to the All Volunteer Force.
I enlisted to serve in Viet Nam and yes the DRAFT was a factor in my decision to enlist but not my decision to make it a career. I believe the DRAFT is again needed to help focus everyone’s attention on how quickly our leaders are to resort to military action and not diplomacy and the support of political opposition to despots like Saddam was.
One other point I preferred Draftees to many of the All Volunteers I saw. Draftees were from all walks of American Life and we had a real melting pot which was a challenge that many officers were just not up to and so they prefer the volunteer mercenary force over the Citizen Army.
Mark, you are right on. It is the irony of the decade that well over 2/3 of young men and women during the Vietnam era joined the Armed Forces and were in fact not drafted. And Bob you do well to hint at some of the motivations to join. Many thought they would get better training if they volunteered. That was incorrect, even though recruiters outright lied about this mythical benefit. The Marine Corps played the heart strings well with some real subliminal messages that you may live and survive the war if you are trained as a Marine.
I dropped out of college at San Diego State, to become a better surfer. The draft board was in immediate contact with any student that was not matriculated. The draft notice came in week 6. I joined the Marine Corps on the buddy system. I guess the ads worked!