HalifaxCB:

Thanks for taking the trouble to read my long-winded message and respond to it.

Anyway, I think I’ll stick to my guns for now. It’s true that the returning GIs were well-motivated, but the real problem started after they were gone, but the GI Bill didn’t go away. Keep in mind that the baby boomers were still children during the 60s, and please don’t assume that everyone who had a draft deferment was a leftist. I had one myself for the entire Vietnam War period, including several years after I had left school. It wasn’t actually until after I had graduated that the draft heated up — I don’t remember that anyone actually needed a deferment while I was in school; nevertheless, the mindset that I commented on had already become firmly entrenched.

BTW, before the draft lottery (1965, IIRC), deferments were automatic for college students. Possibly even later, but I wouldn’t have been aware of it. There was nothing really new about giving deferments to college students — what was new was that draft avoidance via college became very popular in the late 60s.