R. - "What they said was : the various backgrounds of draftees could be very useful to the army (knowledge of languages, medical, law studies, mechanic capabilities...)."

What they said over here in the US is that your body could be very useful to the army.

"We don't need your soul, if you have one, or your mind or your heart. In fact, they might get in the way. We need your body. Two legs, two arms and a back - you're in. You say your back hurts - no it doesn't, I don't feel a thing. Carry on!!"

And they didn't respect you in the morning.

I wasn't drafted, but I don't know if I'd have gone had the draft not been a threat. Doubt it.

Actually, on a personal level the military was absolutely super. Wonderful people, and in a struggle one didn't care if the next guy was drafted or not. Everyone was trying to save their own ass, and to do that meant saving the asses of the guys next to you, too. The draftees might have tended to have more problems, but that was sorted out by the time they got to combat. Unlike civilian BBSs, we had our ways of wising up the immature rapidly, and, by the way, kindly. We kept 'em with us as more valuable, smarter, more relaxed and willing to work within the "system" once they had seen how dependent we were on each other.

(I've often wondered if we'd have fought so hard, with so much desperation and cruelty, if we'd been fighting someone who looked like ourselves. I don't think so, but as it was everything was either to get back to a base or die - there was no middle ground, so to speak.)

Arf