[dragonwriter]

> fast forward to Vietnam when we decided the elite should fight too

That's the opposite of what happened with Vietnam, with its limited draft with broader exemptions [0] than previous 20th Century wars.

[0] For a particularly class-specific example, the student deferment by the time of Vietnam extended as long as you were a full-time student making satisfactory progress, and could be kept up until you passed draftable age; in Korea, a qualified student could defer induction until the end of the current term only.