Vietnam War Draft Lottery

Tony, NC, 1969. No. 110: Dad Served For Both Of Us

I had several near misss with the Vietnam situation during my stay at Carolina.

The first was in 1966, during my sophomore year. Every male student received mistakenly re-classified draft notices (from II-S to I-A) from the Cumberland County Draft Board on a Friday afternoon. After several follow-up letters we were re-classified to student status again, but not fast enough to stop us from thinking we were all going to be drafted.

The second experience was a test given on a Saturday morning to determine if we could score at a high enough level to remain deferred. We were all fingerprinted by the FBI before taking the test.

The third was the actual lottery. I came in at No. 110, which was not considered safe. Other than my mother freaking out over all of this, no other special events. I was never drafted. Finished at UNC in 1969 and went on to medical school. My Dad always said he had been in two wars (WWII and Korea) and he felt he had served for both of us.

Mike, NC, 1969. No. 36: Socio-Economic Gamut

I managed to keep a II-S deferment until I graduated college in the summer of 1972. I received my draft notice in October '72 and immediately applied for the Army National Guard.

The Guard could afford, at the time, to be VERY picky about who they allowed in, but my education level and test scores got me in. I did my basic training and AIT in Ft. Polk, LA during the spring of 1973. Absolutely gorgeous weather. My education level got me out of a lot of low end details; I saw a side of young American citizenry I had never experienced. That was the time when a judge could give criminals a choice: jail or armed service. Amazing differences in combined socio-economic levels when the draft is in effect. I was a degreed mechanical engineer and hung out with a degreed nuclear engineer. We had the number 10 high jumper in the world in our AIT company.

We (and the rest of the gamut through criminals) slogged rifles through the mud and fired every weapon the army had for ground pounding infantry. I chose infantry AIT just because I would probably never experience anything like that in civilian life.

Rodger, Pennsylvania, 1969. Other Experiences

To make my story short, my lottery number was never called. Thus, I did not serve. However, I had other experiences regarding the Vietnam War era, which I will pass on for what they are worth.

In the fall 1965, I lived in a graduate dorm at UNC-CH. I remember the Selective Service calling up "non-critical" major grad students, such History and Economics majors during the semester. Such grad students moved out of the dorm during October / November 1965, presumably to report to a military service. I majored in Computer Science, which was deemed by the powers-that-be a "critical" major.

Three weeks before I was to be married in June 1966, my mother called me on the phone and said "you have a letter here from the Selective Service Board. Do you want me to open it?" I said "yes". The letter read that I was to appear at Fort Ford in Detroit on a date very near the day I was to be married. I was "cleared" to serve. So I asked my major professor at UNC-CH to write a letter to the Selective Service Board in my home town that I was under contract to teach "Data Procerssing" at a community college in Michigan after my marriage. The short of this was that I received a "Critical Skills" deferment for the academic year 1966-67 and subsequently for academic years 1967-68 and 1968-69 at UNC-CH.

While at UNC-Ch in 1967 or 1968, I remember a violent protest against the Vietnam War. Basically, one of the cafeterias at UNC-Ch was pretty badly affected as a side-effect of the protest.

The above is the extent of my Vietnam Era related personal experiences and recollections. In retrospect, I believe that we lost 56000+ men for no good reason. The Domino Theory of Communism simply was a myth that the government exploited.

Rich, NC, 1969. No. 3: Political Wars

1969 was the year of my college graduation. Being the son of a career Army veteran who served in WW II, Korea and Vietnam, when all this started I had no solid feelings of my own about Vietnam. During the rough early times at school, I often considered dropping out and enlisting. After improving my grades, I also attempted to get a late appointment to the West Point Military Academy, but decided against it before my application was turned down. By my senior year, I came to have a negative view of the Vietnam War and marched with my then girlfriend (now my wife) in protest.

To show how my thoughts and feelings developed later during this tumultuous time for our country, after I was actually in the military and with a child on the way, I even considered but finally could not countenance desertion and emigration to Sweden.

So approaching graduation, newly married and with the expiration of my II-S student status, I went to my local draft board to register along with hundreds of others. The little old lady sitting behind the table took one look at my long hair, sniffed, and asked for my draft card. She wrote down the needed information, handed back my card and told me I would be drafted within six weeks of graduation! She then said (I'll never forget those words), "That's what you get for going to college." There went any thoughts of grad school or getting a job!

The whole draft registration experience motivated me to explore OCS and enlistment options in other services. I soon decided to enlist in the Air Force -- just before the draft lottery was started. THAT seriously had me wondering if I'd made the wrong decision. After basic training and into my specialist training, the lottery was finally held. My draft number was 3.

My Air Force experience was mostly enjoyable but I did come to develop a strong animosity toward the casual disregard for individualism and the extreme caste system between enlisted men and officers. My anti-war feeling grew much stronger even though my closest experience with war was the TV news and our bi-weekly, early morning alerts on the flight line with my family, waiting to see if this was the time we were actually being sent to Vietnam. But that never did happen. In the years afterward as I developed friendships with so many that were sent to Vietnam, I realized how fortunate I was to be excluded.

Trying to summarize the long-term effect of this whole experience is difficult. In some ways, it simply delayed the plans I had by my four-year enlistment. But it also allowed my youthful attitudes and views to develop, be crystallized and guide me throughout my life. I survived it all intact and with little final impact. But the negative impact of the draft board encounter, the lottery process, and my experience with the military mind has also colored my life and my feelings about "political" wars. I have to admire and appreciate what our serving military men do for us. But I also have to abhor the choices made to employ them, the rationales used to engage them, and the lives thrown away before they ever really have the chance to develop that I had.

John, NC, 1969. No. 212: Reconsider My Calling

At the time of the first lottery, I was in my first year of theological school. I was genuinely interested in campus ministry and working toward a Master of Divinity degree, a three-year program.   I had to admit, though, that the IV-D status given to ministers and those in preparation for the ministry was also an attraction.

Then I got a high lottery number.  I knew I would not be drafted, so that was no longer a reason to continue pursuing an M. Div.   Thus the lottery forced/allowed me to reconsider my "calling."   Graduate school was now an option, as was taking a break from school altogether.

In time, I concluded that I still wanted to complete my M. Div. and enter the ministry.   Even though that career was short-lived, because of several mitigating factors, I benefited from the education I received in the M. Div. program.

Robert, New York, 1969. No. 291: Same Birthday

I was not too concerned about the lottery because I was going to medical school and would receive an automatic deferment.

My childhood friend who shared the same birthday as me was accepted to law school but declined and joined the National Guard. He was somewhat distressed when the lottery was drawn and we received No. 291.

Joe, Tennessee, 1971. No. 002: From Delivery Driver To Naval Air

In 1971 I was driving an auto parts delivery truck when I heard that my lottery number was 002. I had just passed over the Jackson Ave. viaduct in Memphis, TN.

That afternoon I called a friend whose Daddy was stationed at the Millington Navy base at Millington, TN. His son and I were both the same age and eligible for the draft. He helped us both join the Navy Reserve unit in Millington. We went to boot camp there (last company) and then to the Naval Air Station in Jacksonville, FL for A-School. He became and AE, me an AO (I got the last AO billet).

Walt, Ohio, 1969. No. 303: Johnny Got His Gun

In December of 1969 I was a second year student at Ohio University. Not really ready for school, poor and confused (very naive). My Dad had died in 1966 and was a veteran of WW II. I remember watching the lottery drawing on TV and laughing when my number came up at 303. But with money running out and knowing my Mother couldn't afford to put me through college I made a tough decision and enlisted in Airbourne Armor.

I took the oath on December 12, 1969 and was ready to go to Vietnam. I went to BCT at Fort Bragg, NC and had a two week leave before going to AIT at Fort Knox. While on leave, someone gave me the book "Johnny Got His Gun" by Dalton Trumbo. It opened my eyes to the real mess I had gotten myself into. During the final weeks of AIT I "unvolunteered" from Airbourne training--taking a lot of crap from the Sgt giving me the papers to sign.

When the orders came for our assignments, 1/3 went to Korea, 1/3 went to Germany and 1/3 to Vietnam. I was a holdover while they decided where to send me. Two weeks later I was on my way to Germany, to a unit on the West German, East German and Czech border (1st Sqd, 2nd Armored Cav Regiment). Never did go to Vietnam and re-enlisted for German language training in order to go back to Germany--ended up at Fort Riley!! I was discharged after 7 years, 9 months & 7 days.

Michael, Indiana, 1969. No. 284: Four Out Of Five Doctors Agree

In the spring of 1968, my senior year of high school, I had cartilage and ligaments taken out of my right knee due to a soccer accident. Having no money for college, I began work at a local bank.

In early June of 1969, I heeded my draft board's summons and appeared at the Indianapolis Armed Forces Examination and Entrance station for a physical. Apparently my board had exhausted its limited supply of recent college graduates and was grabbing any nineteen year old who wasn't a full time college student. After a few weeks' wait, my board informed me that I was classified as I-A.

My surgeon disagreed and wrote the board that my injured knee would not tolerate basic training. He also told me that if I was drafted and injured in training, I would not get any G.I. benefits since the injury would be due to a pre-existing condition.

A few more weeks later, my board instructed me to see three separate contract surgeons who would verify my condition. Taking a vacation day off from work, I went to each surgeon, who gave me a more thorough examination than the induction center did.

My board soon informed me that I was re-classified as "I-Y (War or National Emergency)". This status was good for six months when I would be re-examined.

By the time my birthday was pulled as number 284 by the first lottery, I had enrolled as a full-time commuter student at the local campus of Indiana University. After that, I never had any more communications from my draft board.

Bill, California, 1969. No. 74: Air Of Unreality

I had a student deferment and was attending Central Connecticut State when I received the low lottery number. I don't recall much other than being at the college that night with everyone trading their "scores". I remember an air of unreality getting that low number award.

Next year I was called for a physical, in February, 1970, though I still had my draft deferment. A train ticket was provided and a ride from Bridgeport to New Haven. I was classified I-A, and then buried the rough introduction to the army for the next two years.

In 1972 I came out with a diploma and an end to the deferment. Between a recession in Connecticut and my low lottery number (asked about at job interviews) I was sitting out there in limbo. I started bowing to what I thought was inevitable since they were raising the lotto numbers up, hitting the different branches for interviews. I finally settled on the shortest term, going into the army for a two year hitch. On July 27, 1972 I was in, reporting to Ft Dix for basic training. After the freedom of college, I felt like I was in prison. No Vietnam for me though, it was all stateside with the war winding down. Military Police, Nuclear Security. It was where they were tossing all the college grads who were drafted or two years service. So I was effectively back with the college crowd again.

The irony of it all was that the lottery numbers were escalated because the powers that be knew the draft was going to end, and by 1973 it did. If I had only known, maybe I would have evaded service.

You get what you can out of the experience and I used the GI Bill to go to grad school in California and have been here ever since. All's well that ends well. I often thought about missing the war, haunted by the experiences others my age had there. I had not taken a position on the war then, just going back and forth from the protesters to a moderate posture -I just knew I wanted an education so I stayed in school. I often think that if I had gone in at age 19 I may not have been able to handle Vietnam. Guess I will never know.