Approximately 80 percent of American soldiers who served in Vietnam came from lower-income or working-class families. These individuals often did not attend college or graduate school, where many students could avoid military service through deferments. Until mid-1968, most young men received automatic deferments while in higher education, which meant that those who went directly into the workforce or military service after high school were more likely to be drafted.

"Neither in college nor in graduate school-where most students received near-automatic deferments until mid-1968-they often found themselves drafted after they got out of high school," indicates that the draft disproportionately impacted poorer and working-class youths, exposing them to the risks of Vietnam. This social imbalance helped shape the ongoing debates about fairness and justice surrounding the military draft during that era.