Conscript Soldiers were men aged 18-25 that was required to register with the Department of Labor because there weren’t enough men that volunteered for the War & they needed more men. The men’s birthday dates was put into a ballot known as the ‘Birthday Ballot’ and if their birth date was drawn they are meant to do 2 years of continuous service role in the regular army, followed by 3 years of part time service in the Army Reserve and full time duty for ‘Special Overseas Service’ which includes combat duties in Vietnam. If your birth date is pulled out of the ballot you then go for a check up to see if you are eligible to fight in the war. If you refuse to serve part in the army when your birth date was pulled out you may serve weeks to months in jail depending on what your excuse was. Once you get approved of the checkup you then go for training for the war. Conscript Soldiers were frightened to death because they got chosen to fight for our country knowing that anything could happen to them. According to my research 50,000 men and women served in the war, with approximately half of these being conscripts. 520 men killed in action (K.I.A). 2,830 wounded in action (W.I.A) My fondest memories of the war were the sunsets and sunrises, which were really beautiful and calming release from all the activity which involved an infantry battalion. – Source 2 (Leon Babako in Maree Rowe. This secondary source tells us that the sunrise and sunsets were a sigh of relief for the soldiers. The experiences of the Soldiers were incredible going up mountains, creeks, rivers and bills carrying around 50kg of equipment, food, weapons and clothes. They would sleep on tents and weather was changing all the time to rain, sunny, windy, hailing, storming and lighting. These men sacrificed a lot for our country with the occasional weather changes they were trying not to get killed by their enemy but trying to kill them. Not being able to sleep and trying not to step on atomic bombs everyday during the war would’ve been a challenge.
Regular Army was men that volunteered for the Vietnam War. Len a Vietnam Veteran came to our school to talk to us about his experience in the war. He was part of the Regular Army, which meant that he was a volunteered soldier. He tells us about his experience in the War. He said that he was terrified but said he didn’t regret going into war, ‘’ it was a period to remember’’. Soldiers kept something for them to feel safe such as loved ones belongings etc. Len telling us about his experience is a Primary Source. Conscript soldiers and Regular Army fought together as troops and everything they did, they experienced together. The entertainment the soldiers had was singers and dancers such as The Sapphires. – ANOTHER PRIMARY SOURCE. The fun they had was drinking alcohol, which was 10c per beer while playing cards and having a laugh with their friends. The contact that the Vietnam Veterans had with their family was by letters and voice tapes according to Len. Len got