Approximately 2.5 million Americans served in the Vietnam War, but this figure tells only part of a complex and controversial story. At issue in the controversy is whether men were unfairly sent to Vietnam on the basis of class and race. During and immediately after the conflict, accusations were made that a disproportionate number of African Americans and poor Americans of all colors had been drafted.

Statistical analysis reveals that some of these claims are only partially true. Proportionately, rural areas lost more men than did urban areas, but Selective Service drafted both urban and rural people almost equally. Race-focused studies have revealed that African Americans did serve in disproportionate numbers, especially in the early period of the war. African Americans made up 20 percent of early combat deaths although they made up 11 percent of the population, but the number of deaths later leveled...