There was no “draft number” in ‘67. Welcome to Viet Nam.
I still have my draft card, but served during 1967-1971.
When was the lottery instituted?
Yet, I was never called up.
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Very lucky for you. Don’t look a gift horse in the mouth. Had you been called up, you would have never been the same afterwards ...
Me, I had a draft card.
But I fooled ‘em!
I joined the Marines!............
I was #3 but I had already volunteered and was serving when the lottery was instituted.
I remember it well. My draft number was number 1. A friend of mine, with a birthday two days different got a number of 365, as I recall.
There was no doubt for me, so I stayed in the ROTC program, switched from Air Force to the Army, and ended up in command of a Meteorology Team in California as the war in Vietnam ended.
I drew 366 in the first draft lottery. It was a fork in the road of my life. I avoided military service. Not sure that is a good thing now.
Graduated HS in ‘72. My lottery number was in the seventies. I applied for AFROTC to become a missile officer. One day during the spring ‘73 term the ROTC officer called a bunch of us in, said that no one was going to be drafted and they didn’t need us for non-flying positions. That was the extent of my military career.
I graduate HS in 71 too. Went into the Army two weeks after graduation. I don’t think they drafted anybody from the class of 71. If they did they were small numbers.
I remember sitting in my dorm room listening to the radio as they called the numbers.
I was #064.
I was #324, but not called-up.
My number was something like 252; but, I joined ROTC and became a commissioned officer in 1972. After Officer’s Basic Course in Oct-Dec of 1972, I was released to ready reserves. They didn’t want my MOS (Adjutant General Corps) because Nixon had signed force reduction orders. My ROTC emphasis was infantry, but my branch assignment was ADC because I had a Computer Science degree.
I graduated from high school in 1972 and turned 18 in 1973. I remember registering for the draft in downtown South Bend, Indiana, and the lady behind the desk not believing me when I told her I was born in California. I think I was in the last draft lottery; my birthday was not in the top half, and, as it turned out, no one subject to the 1973 lottery got drafted.
The first draft lottery for the Vietnam War took place on this date at Selective Service National Headquarters in Washington, DC, marking the first such lottery since 1942. It determined the order of induction for men born between 1944 and 1950, with the drawing televised live to assign numbers from 1 to 366.
The drawing lasted about five hours, with September 14 receiving the lowest number (1), making those born on that date most vulnerable to immediate induction. The highest lottery number actually called for service from this group was 195, meaning men with numbers above that were generally safe.
Graduated high in ‘69, went off to college to persue a Mechanical Engineering degree. I had snaggled a 2S student deferrment at that time and was living in one of the school’s dormitories.
I remember quite well the night they had the draft lottery; when they called #1, I saw a portable TV literally go flying by my 3rd floor window from upstairs...lol. My number was #9. Managed not to flunk out, but about my senior year (1973), I dropped the 2S student deferrment and went 1A fully eligible, but things were winding down and was never called up. I had also been persuing a slot in the USMC Platoon Leadership - Aviation Program after college graduation, and planned on the USMC rather than being drafted. None of which ever happened so I started my career by going to work for a huge construction firm.
FWIW, I lost a lot of school mates and some family members over there. Some made it back but were never the same. Over time, drugs and alcohol took its toll on a lot of em. A couple of em died a slow death supposedly from agent orange exposure.
To this day, I have nothing but the deepest respect and honor for those that served. God bless em all.
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The last one was during my senior year.
Room got real quiet.
Nixon and the draft board came out with a policy that if you were draft eligible and weren’t drafted by the end of March 1972 you were reclassified as 1H. (only called up in time of war). After that, the draft, I believe was ended.
Happened to me. Nixon was trying to exit Viet Nam and that might have been a first step.
IMHO
I was standing in formation in basic combat training in 1974 and the senior drill sergeant announced that the last of the draftees had left the army. I think there may still have been a few draftees left at that point, but with the winding down of Vietnam, they were few and far between.
Iirc student deferments didn’t end in 71 I voluntarily turned mine in I took my chances for 90days...think in late 71. I had low number in 80s but there was a low draft call I think end of 71 early 72 and I didn’t get called... I remember a friend in 69 or 70 they got this to his number and his letter but two or three people ahead of him and he didn’t get called. I think each different draft board by location got to different numbers....ever see the movie “ big Wednesday” it marked the Era.