The Vietnam war was referred to as the “working class war” because the enlisted men made up the lower class of America. These men did not have money to make up for reasons or excuses to get out of being drafted to the war. If you were in a family of money or power you could avoid being drafted. This caused only the working class of the United States to be enlisted in the war. The demographic of the majority of the enlistees was very poor, most of them were the sole provider for their families, and they had no choice if they were notified of being drafted into the Vietnam war. The reason most U.S. troops were getting demoralized by the late 60s was because of the position of the war. The U.S. had made no progress up to that point. Many lives were lost due to poor strategy and poor knowledge of the battlefield. And the fact that there was no end in sight. The U.S. showed no intentions of pulling out of Vietnam, and there were no big plans to make a push to win or conclude the war. With this in mind, many troops began to lose confidence in the U.S. and in their reasoning for being in Vietnam in the first place. This caused lots of conflict within the army and the troops in Vietnam at the time. Some troops even abanded their companies to try and get back to the U.S. or just start and a new life away from the war. Low morale was a big issue among troops as the war progressed. Many arguments spurred up among companies and caused many men to not care about their fellow soldiers in battle. Often times companies disobeyed and would split up because they did not agree with the upper command or their superiors. This led to even more loss of life with thinner front lines and fewer men to push against and an army that was on its home turf.
I do not believe there is a class divide in the U.S. military today. If anything more people want to join the military to support their country or serve their country for the greater good. You see many different types of people in our services today and many different ways they can serve without actually going to war. Today there are more men and women in the military who actually want to serve their country. Everyone that is in the military wants to be there and were not forced to be there by the government. To me, this is an example of a classless society in the military, because once you enlist you are equal with everyone around you regardless of how much money or popularity you have in the outside world. And you do not see any certain type of class avoiding or more prevalent within the military.
Will Wright 