My father-in-law was 185. He decided that since he had a masters in engineering he'd go talk to the recruiter instead of playing the odds. Went in as a Captain (medical corps, doing water projects) instead as a private. Good call.

My dad was 314 and didn't complain about it one bit.

Also of note: my grandpa was an older active-duty Master Sergeant during Nam. Story is he refused promotion to 1st Sergeant because he wanted no part of doing house-calls, which were done by senior enlisted at that time. He encouraged my old man to utilize every legal avenue available (at least those available to working class folks) to avoid going.

15. I couldn't imagine hearing it live.

100 - so what's the story here (sorry I'm 29 and don't know how this worked) - does that mean my birthday was the 100th date drawn?

When would they have drawn that number? How many #s were drawn a night / etc...

You got your draft number, and then you waited. They went up the numbers over the next couple years as they needed troops. They ended at 195. (My understanding)

They were exemptions for medical, still in college, farmer, etc.

Ban Cow Gas said:

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15. I couldn't imagine hearing it live.

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Dad says he remembers watching it with a very large group of guys in college. He said you could hear a pin drop. As the first number was called, a single voice in the room said, "Well F***!". He says that while that sort of comment would usually result in laughter - at the very least a bit of a chuckle somewhere - nobody moved or made a sound and the room remained completely silent. They called the first 50 numbers on air. He had to buy a newspaper to see the rest of the list.

Gramercy Riffs said:

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My father was #108. When he and his friends reported, he was notified that his paperwork wasn't there for some reason. It apparently got shuffled around for several months (and I think was eventually lost at one point). He passed his physical, graduated from college and waited for the call, just weeks before his first child was to be born. By the time it got straightened out they'd put the process on hold, and he was told to wait again. When the next draft resumed, he was too old to get called.

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My dad enlisted on an 8 year commitment (prior to Vietnam kicking off). He was ready to get out at the end of 8 years with 3 kids. He went to the mailbox and had a large envelop from the Army in it. He expected this to contain his terminal leave paperwork. Instead, it was new orders telling him where to report, this was due to the Cuban Missile Crisis.

At that point, he had already turned in his uniforms and other equipment.

He reported to a new base, his MOS was changed from Corps of Engineers to Intelligence. Several others were in the same position. He served another 18 months, never was issued uniforms, and met up with the others like him and played cards everyday, then went home.

My father was not a fan of JFK.

My dad was just a few years too young for the draft. His older brothers weren't as lucky. My great uncle who served nearly the entirety of the WWII and finished it in a POW camp in Germany told them to do everything in their power to get out it. Pulled the farmer exemption, one got into a seminary. He'd heard the horror stories from buddies fighting in the Pacific and wanted none of that for his kids.

Wow some great stories. Really appreciate it

third coast.. said:

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so was the daft sequential? so if you were low you were basically screwed? or did they just go down the calendar and draw numbers and thats how those dates got their numbers. I cant imagine the pit of your stomach feeling on the lottery day.

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366 balls were in a container, and each ball had a slip of paper inside it with a date on it. The date inside the first ball drawn got slot 001 (September 14), and so on. I've seen it mentioned that the balls were not mixed very thoroughly, and the balls were apparently put in chronologically, so January's went in first and December's went in last, which meant they were closer to the top. That would certainly help explain why December had so many low numbers.

The method was revised a bit for future draft lotteries...dates were mixed in one container, numbers in a different container. A date and a number were drawn and paired up, so the first pairing pulled could have been, say, July 12 and 186.

There is a short YouTube clip of this lottery that I am absolutely showing to my Stats classes this year...I absolutely can't imagine watching this live if I were draft eligible. I was just months old, and my dad was finishing up his Army career (retired in 1970), but if my stepbrother hadn't already been in college, he'd have been drafted. My number would have gotten called, too...honestly don't know what I would have done. My dad was pretty disillusioned with the Army by late 1969, and wouldn't have given the Vietnam campaign much of an endorsement.

I would've been 192. I guess anyone with that number would've been drafted toward the end of the war?

30 for me!

My dad received his draft notice while in USMC boot camp in 1965. Drill Instructor offered him the opportunity to go join the army. Was in Vietnam 66-67

002 for me

275. My dad was 229. I remember him telling me that he was certainly going to go if called, but he wasn't upset that he had a high number.

202 for me; needless to say, I didn't have to go.

Gramercy Riffs said:

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Ban Cow Gas said:

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15. I couldn't imagine hearing it live.

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Dad says he remembers watching it with a very large group of guys in college. He said you could hear a pin drop. As the first number was called, a single voice in the room said, "Well F***!". He says that while that sort of comment would usually result in laughter - at the very least a bit of a chuckle somewhere - nobody moved or made a sound and the room remained completely silent. They called the first 50 numbers on air. He had to buy a newspaper to see the rest of the list.

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Sorry All - I meant to say this post resonates because my warped sense of humor would laugh today at this story (well F!), but in the moment I couldn't imagine being drafted on live television. Ive long felt the heros and warriors of Vietnam nam have never got their proper dues.

My dad was there as well as many uncles who fortunately survived to make me and my cousins. Hopefully history has come around to respect these kids (at the time) who gave their lives for all of us. Again not trying to trivialize their sacrifice - but the story about the guy saying well F me humanizes who they were. I would have said the same thing if it were me.

Dad ran out of money for college. Got his draft notice and went to the navy recruiter and joined that day. He said he'd rather spend his service as a machinist mate instead of cannon fodder.

a general question...the famous televised lottery occurred on December 1, 1969.

so for the first men drafted...(September 14th birthdays)...how soon were they on the ground in Vietnam?

some consolation that ground ops slowed down in the second half of 1970 as more and more units came home.

(especially when compared to 1967/68/69)

How did the lotto system work? I see how they televised the number assignment to the birthday, but in the story above, shouldn't everyone be exclaiming "f-" as no one would know how high the draft would go?

When the the actually numbers start getting called and how often did that happen? I'm confused but genuinely interested.

In other words, I would have been equally nervous whether I was number 20 or number 335. Just a matter of time.

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