I’m 65, my draft number was 243, my good buddy had a 4. Neither of us served or got close to Vietnam.
With the end of active U.S. ground participation in Vietnam, December 1972 saw the last men conscripted, who were born in 1952[71] and who reported for duty in June 1973. On February 2, 1972, a drawing was held to determine draft priority numbers for men born in 1953, but in early 1973 it was announced by Secretary of Defense Melvin Laird that no further draft orders would be issued.[72][73] In March 1973, 1974, and 1975, the Selective Service assigned draft priority numbers for all men born in 1954, 1955, and 1956, in case the draft was extended, but it never was.[74] Command Sergeant Major Jeff Mellinger, believed to be the last drafted enlisted ranked soldier still on active duty, retired in 2011.[75][76] Chief Warrant Officer 5 Ralph E. Rigby, the last Vietnam War-era drafted soldier of Warrant Officer rank, retired from the army on November 10, 2014 after a 42-year career.[77]
I am also 65. If I remember correctly, my draft number was 68. The draft ended before I graduated from high school in 1972. My draft rating was 4F (bad eyes), so I wasn’t really worried, anyway.
I doubt this guy was ever in Vietnam while in the Marines.
I’m 62. Graduated from high school in 1973. Graduated from UCSD in 1976. I had my 1A card and waited for the lottery numbers. Mine was 319.