December 1, 1969

[dheinz]

1972 lottery number 36, "Greetings" letter in June, inducted on July 10

I failed the AFQT with a score of 12. High school diploma overrode that test...

I swallowed bits of aluminum foil hoping they would show up as something bad...

I failed the hearing test and was told to go to room 7 which I promptly did indicating that I actually could hear...

Is it obvious that I did not want to be there?

After induction I did very well on the two day battery of testing and was offered Officers Candidate School that required an additional year to my commitment. I declined...

Basic training in Fort Jackson SC in heat of summer. I went from 160lbs to 123lbs and was in the best physical shape of my life.

I proceeded to Ft Gordon GA for Military Police training, then to Germany to finish my obligation.

I hated the military at the time of my service. Looking back I have no regrets.

[wdfifteen]

Originally Posted by Ziggythecat

No apologies for putting self survival over some Generals idea of how the world should be

It was the politicians, not the Generals. Politicians started the travesty and had the power to stop it, but did not have the political courage. The military, as usual, did what they were told to do.

[DWBOX2000]

I was thinking about this last night. I was born in 1970 so it was not a concern for my parents. Someone posted something on Facebook basically saying that as bad as it is regarding covid for current day high school seniors, better than during the draft days. Then it dawned on me that kids were getting drafted at around 18. My son is 18 which just blew my mind. He just seems so young.

[Rapewta]

I remember December 1969 very well. Halfway through Boot Camp and everyone had a cold or flu. Miserable but we made it to graduation.
It was a four year sacrifice of the best years right out of High School.

The benefit that came years later is that all my medical is covered now by the Veterans Administration.

[Erakad]

I was number 9 and 1A. They shut down the draft Jan. 27, 1973 just a few months before I would have been drafted.

Funny...I had number 11 and was 1A! Even better, much later went into the AF and stayed ~30 years! One of best decisions I made!!

[Evans, Marv]

I still have my Selective Service card (I think it's the original) & was drafted. Induction took place on Valentine's Day '64. I had it easy while in. Scored high numbers on the Army Battery of Apptitude Tests & almost passed the OCS part, but quit taking the test two thirds of the way through thinking it was a waste of time takiing it. Was chosen as one of the trainie Sergeants to head a platoon during basic. Basic was very easy & fun. Got picked later on out of about 450 guys at the repo depot at Ft. Lewis into a group of a dozen guys, which we learned were going to get jobs around the headquarters area. So I was picked up by a section servicing part of the General Staff. I hit two levies for Vietnam, but my NCOIC called some Sergeant somelwhere both times and told him to take my name off & put somebody else's on. It was actually a good experience for me and the GI Bill later on really helped out for education.

[Scott Douglas]

The more I've learned about the war in the last 5 years or so and the decision making by the politicians that at the time seemed to me to be good ones, has shown me that all is not as it appears. Even today, there is a lot of 'stuff' going on in the world that we, as a nation, are not privy to for one reason or another.
I used to regret not having been drafted. Not any more. My daughter-in-law's father served over in Vietnam. He was one of the ones that was fighting in the countries we weren't even supposed to be in at the time. His health issues now are enough to make me glad I didn't get to go.
Having the career I had building satellites of which we don't speak, I had access to the reports that the current leader doesn't even pay attention to. Pisses me off to no end that things are the way they are now. I have 4 granddaughters to worry about and two more boys on the way. I only hope we can get things under control again so they have a chance at a good life here in the USA.

[RonDent]

September '73, 4H. Got married instead. Not sure I made the right choice.

[Ziggythecat]

Originally Posted by wdfifteen

It was the politicians, not the Generals. Politicians started the travesty and had the power to stop it, but did not have the political courage. The military, as usual, did what they were told to do.

JFK followed General Eisenhower’s 8 years.
The Generals were still running the show, and they were trusted...they won WWII and were coming off of the Korean War

The first inklings of what was to come was a speech from then VP Dick Nixon, proposing we follow the military recommendation to use force in SE Asia
The defeat of Nixon did not stop the military march to stamp out Communista
They sorely underestimated.

We had our Hawks and Doves, not Left and Right
The Hawks followed the lead of the Military.

Not everyone was a Self Appointed Military advisor, like we have today.

[GH85Carrera]

Originally Posted by Ziggythecat

JFK followed General Eisenhower’s 8 years.
The Generals were still running the show, and they were trusted...they won WWII and were coming off of the Korean War

The first inklings of what was to come was a speech from then VP Dick Nixon, proposing we follow the military recommendation to use force in SE Asia
The defeat of Nixon did not stop the military march to stamp out Communista
They sorely underestimated.

We had our Hawks and Doves, not Left and Right
The Hawks followed the lead of the Military.

Not everyone was a Self Appointed Military advisor, like we have today.

Johnson followed Kennedy's lead and just kept sending in troops, and would not let the military fight. Nixon ended the war and won that war by bombing the hell out of the North. They all knew the only safe place was next to the POW camps.

It brought the North Vietnamese to the peace table and ended the war for us. They signed the peace treaty. The lying commies ignored the peace treaty and attacked again before we could even get out of there.

[Nostril Cheese]

I'm younger than you guys.

The numbers... " 11 and 1A" I get the draft classification. But a lower number meant you were more likely to be called in?

Edit. Lottery number.. how did that work?

[Sooner or later]

Originally Posted by Nostril Cheese

I'm younger than you guys.

The numbers... " 11 and 1A" I get the draft classification. But a lower number meant you were more likely to be called in?

Yes. They had a draw. In my year they drew a date and then drew a number. (Or a number then a date. I can't remember which was drawn first) #1 would be drafted first. I watched it live.

[stevej37]

My draw of 66 meant that I was almost assured of going.
The letter came and I was on the bus to Detroit for the physical.
A 3 hr drive with about 25 others and we were there for two days and nights.
Passed the physical and the bus returned with 6 less passengers.
They were found to be self-medicating...trying to draw an exemption. Never heard if they were passed or not.

[Erakad]

Was pretty much like the lottery, a number was drawn then a calendar day, done for every day of the year. The number that corresponded to your birthday was your "random sequence number". The lower the number, i.e. 11, the greater your chance of being drafted. Once you registered for the draft you were assigned a category, 1A you could be drafted immediately, 2S was student deferral, 4F had existing medical issues that precluded military service. There were others but the penguin jumped off the iceburg. 1973 was the last year drawn and they only took #1...I was lucky, 11 was normally a sure thing for the draft.

[Seahawk]

Originally Posted by wdfifteen

Sure. I didn't like the war in general and for sure didn't want to be in the Army or Marines. My plan, if I had drawn a low number, was to join the Navy before they could draft me.

Thank you for you response.

My Father, a West Point graduate, left the Army as a Major after an early tour in Vietnam. He fought in Korea as well.

He thought the remainder of the Vietnam War was going to be political, saw it, walked away.

It crushed him.

[wdfifteen]

^^
My dad was very much against the military. He served in WWII and thought it was a raw dead for everyone.
Even at the age of 18 I had a plan. I came from Appalachian stock, and if you've ever read Hillbilly Elegy - that's our family. I wanted to be somebody and I had a plan. I took easy classes at college to keep my deferment and still be able to work as many hours and make as much money as possible. It didn't make much sense to invest in anything for the future since my future was in the hands of the draft board. When the lottery idea came up I decided I would join the Navy if I got a low number or get serious about life if I got a high number.
I got a high number. Made a down payment on a rental house with the money I'd saved and went from working 40 hours a week and going to mickey mouse class to working 15 hours a week and taking a mechanical engineering course of study.
I felt sorry for they guys who didn't plan and didn't feel like they had any choices.

[Salty Springs]

Remember it well. I was in the very first lottery in "69". If I remember it right they stopped all student deferments and we were all classed 1/A. The first 105 picked were all drafted. I had already had my physical and would have gone immediately. About 30 of us had a "draft party". It was pretty obvious whose #'s were picked (nobody I knew wanted to go) I pulled 276. Canada was mentioned by some ,but that would have taken more courage than I had. My best buddy pulled #7 and was gone within two weeks. He worked in a quarry and had access to some dynamite. He cut off two pieces and put them in his arm pits right before his physical. It made him very ill and he thought he flunked, but they put him(and others) overnight in the YMCA under guard and passed the next day. Off he went. I promptly quit school and went to work , bad times!

[Seahawk]

Originally Posted by wdfifteen

I came from Appalachian stock, and if you've ever read Hillbilly Elegy - that's our family. I wanted to be somebody and I had a plan.

I read it when it came out. Vance can write.

The movie just came out. Even though it has opened to interesting reviews, I plan on watching it;

From Roger Ebert:

The film version of J.D. Vance’s memoir “Hillbilly Elegy” arrives on Netflix so encumbered by cultural baggage and expectations that it’s hard to appreciate what it actually is—along with the things it does well, which are numerous, and understated enough to vanish in the haze of the zeitgeist.

It’s not a great or even particularly distinctive movie, but it’s heartfelt and plain-spoken enough that it might connect with viewers whose families have dealt with addiction and recovery, domestic abuse, financial deprivation, and other problems highlighted in the story. . . .

“Hillbilly Elegy” has little interest in making sweeping statements about the historical roots of white, working class, Republican Rust Belt grievances against so-called “Blue America.”. . . .

I wanted a bigger, bolder, more imaginative take on this material than “Hillbilly Elegy” is willing or able to deliver. But there’s still a lot to like here. . .

I served with a Master Chief from Appalachia. I can't capture his voice well, or his experiences so I'll only say he also had a plan and executed it.

To MC Hall.

[wdfifteen]

Originally Posted by Seahawk

It’s not a great or even particularly distinctive movie, but it’s heartfelt and plain-spoken enough that it might connect with viewers whose families have dealt with addiction and recovery, domestic abuse, financial deprivation, and other problems highlighted in the story. . . .

If that is what the movie focused on I'll pass. The problem - and you may not have recognized it in the book unless you lived it - is one of expectations. Way too many kids are told upward mobility isn't for them. They are taught from an early age that they will be coal miners or waitresses or rotate tires for the rest of their lives and to get an education and a good job is to betray their heritage. When they try to break out they are told they are being "too big for their britches." The thought is put in their heads early on that they are less than the others and the unfortunate majority believe it.

Addiction, domestic abuse, financial deprivation, ignorance, etc all stem from the fundamental belief that they are less than deserving of the best.

Thank God I escaped.

[Seahawk]

Originally Posted by wdfifteen

Thank God I escaped.

Vance was clear and unambiguous concerning expectations, the lack of them, in his upbringing. His book was unstinting in its purpose.

I knew nothing of that mind set.

Your journey is to be admired but I will tell you I know many that needed the opportunities the military offered to escape as well.

Best.