The wealthy and those with connections like the Bush II and sons of the Powerful and Connected found ways to avoid it and still would if we had the draft. But, wouldn't it have been a caution for us not to provoke interventions around the world if we kept it? There would have been more diversity in the Military and more news coverage and activism against more wars rather than the silent Mercenary Army of the Poor and Contractor Hires working out of the bounds of our laws that we have today.

I don't know..I go back and forth.

more Art's voice and less production

Beautiful!!

Reminds me of so many Elton John songs, where he just plays the piano, no big arrangements. Fantastic.
Saw S and G at Philharmonic Hall eons ago, Elton John several times, including when he first did the Beacon Theater with
only piano and Ray Cooper on percussion. Fabulous!!!

were an extraordinary time for music. BOTW, Let it Be, The Long and Winding Road, He Ain't Heavy, He's My Brother, Ain't No Mountain High Enough, War (Edwin Starr) were not only dominating the airwaves, but had something to say about what was going on and what had just transpired in the turbulent late sixties. My absolute favorite time for music. Oh, and the Beatles broke up.

There were really some good ones there.

and heard some of the greatest stuff ever!
Usually, I cook to Singers and Swing, relax to classical, or jump around to "oldies" but
for some reason, I finally noticed the 70's....
From Crosby, Still, Nash and Young to the O'Jays, Chicago, America....wow, what great music to remember!!!! A range of styles,
not just today's over-engineered crap!

A radio was pretty useless and even if you had one; broadcasts by Hanoi Hannah were usually the best reception we could get. When I went on R&R to Sydney, I would hear a song in a club or bar and have to ask who was singing. When we got put on the base at Dong Ha, we had electricity and access to music. Some of the troops at the base had reel-to-reel tape decks and could write to Special Services, Da Nang for recordings. You could request just about anything. I hadn’t heard enough of the music to know what to request, so one of the guys just made up a list for me to order. Six hours of Jimi Hendrix stands out in my memory. I lost the machine on which to play the tapes a couple of decades ago. The tapes have probably turned to jelly by now. Once in a while, I’ll hear a song that takes me back. It’s not always just the memories I get; sometimes I even get the smells. Today, I get my real music from XM Radio.

The Viet Nam War sucked, but we had an awesome sound track.

And,

Welcome to DU

in April, 1968, with about a month left in country when this came on Armed Forces Radio,

"Sail on Silver Girl,
Sail on by
Your time has come to shine
All your dreams are on their way

See how they shine
When you need a friend
I'm sailing right behind"

Her death broke me. It took me months to recover from the loss. I am better now because I have more perspective, particularly from her grown kids who have saved me. But oh my god what a loss and what a mourning that was!

One of the most most beautiful phrases that drilled into one's soul from a song, imho. What an dealistic time that was...the music, poetry, writing, discussion.

Thanks for sharing....and a beautiful send off to your "SIL."

long. I felt like I had died. It was very hard.

Sail on Silver Girl,
Sail on by
Your time has come to shine
All your dreams are on their way

See how they shine
When need a friend
I'm sailing right behind

I managed to deliver it and then I cried all the way from Ithaca to CT.