It should be noted that George W. Bush joined the only Air National Guard unit which served in Vietnam, and trained as a fighter pilot. The F-102 was not sent to Vietnam. As Vietnam wound down, combat experienced pilots returned to the US, and displaced the non-combat experienced F-102 pilots, as the F-102 was being phased out. By comparison, John F. Kerry joined a Navy unit which escorted deep water vessels, and after he was assigned, was redirected to riverine warfare. My notion is that signing up is the brave part, and the rest is luck and follow through. I suggest that the Guardian do a quick Google search on "boat People" and "re-education camp". Of course that is the kind of thing that the Guardian supports as normal. To the Guardian, Communists murduring non-combatants and torturing prisoners for Stalinist purity is acceptable. Soldiers killing terrorists (In Iraq or in Vietnam, the enemy of the US often did not wear uniforms, and certainly did not follow the Geneva Conventions.) is for the Guardian, a war crime first, last, and always, irrespective of any evidence or lack of same.