Before the all-volunteer Army, there was the draft. This meant that most young American men had to decide how they were going to meet their military obligation. As the Cold War dragged on and the Vietnam War heated up, how a person met this obligation assumed critical importance. The choices were stark. If you were in college, you were safe. If not, you could wait to be drafted with the understanding that you could be sent to Vietnam as a combat soldier, or you could volunteer for an assignment that offered the chance of avoiding infantry combat in a rice paddy. Volunteering, however, also...