The men you describe lining up to enlist remind me the guy from Kansas City in the 1981 movie "Stripes":

After telling other new recruits in his platoon that friends back home call him "The Cruiser," he explains why he enlisted:

"I joined the Army because my father and my brother were in the Army. . .
I thought I'd better join before I got drafted."

Then Sergeant Hulka explains, "Son, there ain't no draft."

A moment of silence follows . . .