One of the main themes of the novel is the recall of the veteran of World War II to fly again in Korea while others sit at home.

This book is the source of the oft quoted phrase, "Where do we get such men?"

If you haven't read it, spend a Sunday afternoon with it.

Movie is good, too. Stars William Holden and Mickey Rooney as a CSAR helo pilot.

I had a platoon sergeant in Vietnam who was drafted near the end of WWII, then called back for Korea. He said that he finally decided to just stay in, since they kept calling him back.

One of Hal Moore's complaints in "We Were Soldiers Once, and Young" was that he lost many of his best trained soldiers just before deploying to Vietnam because the government didn't implement a stop-loss program.

The WWII soldiers were drafted for the "Duration plus six months". That was at least partly in response to the repeated difficulties suffered by American forces from the Revolution through the Civil War as a result of the expiration of conscripts terms of service.

Your point about the obligation for eight years service being little recognized, but still an obligation, is spot on. I don't know how many recruiters explain that part of the deal to prospects, but they should. Of course, if they do, they probably offer the caveat that "while it's possible, it doesn't happen very often..."

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