Describe the make-up of the US Army during the Vietnam War.

During the Vietnam War, the US Army was made up partly of
volunteers, but also partly of soldiers who had been drafted.  Overall, the Army was
skewed in its demographics.  It was made up of a disproportionate number of young men
from poor and working class backgrounds.

One reason for
this was the draft.  About one-third of the entire Army during the Vietnam War was made
up of draftees.  Since college students could get draft deferments, young men from
middle and upper class families (those most likely to go to college) were not well
represented in the Army.  In addition, many of those who enlisted because they expected
to be drafted were from this demographic group as well.

The
most distinctive thing about the make-up of the US Army during this war, then, was the
fact that it was made up of a substantial number of draftees and of poor and working
class young men.