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Monday, September 25, 2023
Two GIs Drinking
They were drafting boys who were barely 18, and the guy at left looks like one of them.
Beer and liquor are present here and were available regardless of age.
Of course, a lot of guys came home with worse habits than booze.
Jerry, Did South Vietnam have a minimum drinking age? Did the US Army have a minumum drinking age at that time? I assume everyone from the USA was at least 18? Were the laws just uniformly ignored for the most part.?
What ever South Vietnam's laws were didn't really matter on US bases. Drinking age in the USA is technically set by the invididual states, and the great majority of them had a 21 year requirement, with one or two exceptions (Louisiana comes to mind) where it was 18. Confronted with the utter hypocricy of drafting young men for a war who could neither vote nor consume alcohol, the armed services of the USA allowed 18 year olds to consume alcohol on their bases, both stateside and overseas.
Sorry Jerry, but I have to contradict your drinking age statement. I was on Great Lakes Naval Base in 1971, and at the on-base club they had guys walking among the tables who watched us like Nazis to bust anyone under 21 who was drinking. We got sort of sneaky, but they knew all of our tricks. Once I got overseas, though, it was a completely different story.
If a fellow had his guardian's approval he could join the Army at 17. I did. So I would assume that he could drink on base. Since I don't drink, I never was familiar with the rules concerning that.
Jerry, Did South Vietnam have a minimum drinking age? Did the US Army have a minumum drinking age at that time? I assume everyone from the USA was at least 18? Were the laws just uniformly ignored for the most part.?
ReplyDeleteWhat ever South Vietnam's laws were didn't really matter on US bases.
DeleteDrinking age in the USA is technically set by the invididual states, and the great majority of them had a 21 year requirement, with one or two exceptions (Louisiana comes to mind) where it was 18. Confronted with the utter hypocricy of drafting young men for a war who could neither vote nor consume alcohol, the armed services of the USA allowed 18 year olds to consume alcohol on their bases, both stateside and overseas.
Sorry Jerry, but I have to contradict your drinking age statement. I was on Great Lakes Naval Base in 1971, and at the on-base club they had guys walking among the tables who watched us like Nazis to bust anyone under 21 who was drinking. We got sort of sneaky, but they knew all of our tricks.
DeleteOnce I got overseas, though, it was a completely different story.
SB Dan
Your personal experience trumps my feeble memory.
DeleteIf a fellow had his guardian's approval he could join the Army at 17. I did. So I would assume that he could drink on base. Since I don't drink, I never was familiar with the rules concerning that.
ReplyDeleteI thought there was a provision for parental consent to underage enlistment, and you confirmed it.
DeleteAlcohol and heroin were readily and cheaply available in Vietnam during the conflict. A problem for many then that sadly continues today.
ReplyDeleteTrue.
Delete