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But clearly (as Engels I believe even comments on in several texts),
conscript armies *are* still part of the working class -- and when
they do serve their masters should probably be seen as scabs. The
final defeat of the U.S. invasion of Vietnam was mostly a function
of the refusal of increasing numbers of drafted soldiers to perform
as scabs. This does not include commissioned officers, of course --
fragging was an act of working-class loyalty (however the individual
"grunts" may have seen their own actions)....................
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Apropos to the above: My dad was a front-line infantry grunt during the Battle of the Bulge. He told me that when his company finally got to the Elbe and met the Russians (who were in rags and without much food), his Sgt. - who was a union man from the midwest - told my dad that they shouldn't stop but just keep rolling on to Vladivostok! My dad and his buddies thought the guy was nuts. BTW, after the war my dad spent his whole working career as a member of the teachers union.
Jason