[rollei_list] Re: Central European Emigration; the Draft, in Tsarist Russia and Viet NamWar Era America

"A lot of folks from central and eastern Europe=20
fled to the US after 1848.  It was a desperate=20
time for a lot of guys, not just Jews" Of course--my family was part of a wave of Immigration that was mostly gentile. They always considered themselves German-Americans who happened to be Jewish . My grandmother, who was born in this country in 1880, seemed to remain quite fond of Kaiser Wilhelm, but always refused to discuss any events in Germany post 1933 (which I considered indefensible).
RE: the draft in Tsarist Russia, the family tradition among my Ostjuden in-laws supports the widespread draft of Jews. The powers that be were somehow able to overcome their dislike of Jews when it came to using them for cannon-fodder.
Cannon-fodder reminds me of my own experience with the draft here in the '70s. My draft board was sloppy enough to continue classifying me as 2S while I was in graduate school, not reclassifying me as 1A until shortly before my 26th birthday, after which I was unlikely to be drafted (even though I technically remained liable until age 35). I make no apology for this and am happy to have avoided prison, which I considered, and still consider, my only personal alternative. I had previously rejected the idea of emigration and would not have allowed myself to be inducted into the armed forces had i been drafted. I do wish I had a story like Mark's to tell--so much more satisfying! 
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