BROWSE STORIES

The evening of the first lottery drawing, I was listening to the radio in my apartment while shaving and showering in preparation for a date with my wife-to-be, Carol.  I thought I'd heard my birth date announced very early, but I wasn't sure.  They kept...

Vietnam conscription was my negative reinforcement to remain in college, not drop out in my sophomore year on account of indecision. When I graduated high school 1965 it was with honors and a full scholarship to VMI (VA Military Institute) if I wanted it. Because of...

I enlisted in the US Army Reserve in 1968, being one of the thousands of graduate students whose deferments were cancelled by LBJ in the spring of 1968.  At that time, before the lottery, the draft was applied on the basis of oldest first.  All of us who had...

In November of 1965 while attending Washburn University (as a junior) I was kicked out for violating their rules regarding the use of alcohol.  Within four days of that event I was notified by my local draft board in Wilson County, Kansas to report for a...

I was caught up in it like everyone else at that time. The night they held the lottery, I was busy with other things, and did not know the results until the next day. When I saw that my number was 163, I knew it probably was not high enough to escape the call-up. I...

I knew the moment I found out my number, even though it was very low, that I would not have to serve in Vietnam.  13 has always been my lucky number as it is my birth date.  Indeed, I graduated from the University of Kansas at mid-year and knew no...

I was a senior living in a scholarship hall at KU when the lottery numbers were drawn.  I had already been accepted into medical school, so I was deferred.  After my residency, the military had no interest in me anymore.  My two senior roommates...

In 1969 my lottery number was 16. I was attending college part time when I was drafted in December 1970, with orders for Ft. Polk (basic) and then Vietnam. So I ran around looking for other options. I enlisted a few days later in the Army Reserve and went to...

I graduated from KU in June of 1969. Local Board 47 in Independence, Kansas had me reclassified to I-A and drafted even before KU mailed my diploma to me. I was standing in a basic training chow line when I found out my lottery number was 323--talk about bad timing....

After graduation in '69 I went to work for a large science company which had over twenty engineers affected by the lottery.  We had our own lottery that cost $5 to get in; in '69 a dime could buy morning coffee, the afternoon candy bar and the daily newspaper....

I'm amazed to think how unaware I was, beyond the desire to stay out of the Army.  If my eyes had been better I would have gone into the Air Force and might have ended up at the Hanoi Hilton.  The Air Force would have taken me but not as a pilot.  I...

I was drafted in the summer of 1969 a few months before the lottery went into effect.  I am now a disabled combat veteran of Viet Nam due to Agent Orange, PTSD etc.  I am very proud of my service and that I was patriotic enough to go to war for my country...

I was a pacifist Bahai at the time of the war, having applied for a I-A-0 and been dropped to II-S since I was in college.  Saint Louis Univ. started a BSSW program so I transferred to the School of Social Work.  Never having draft age men they didn't know...

Graduated from KU in June, 1969. Went home to St. Louis area and went to work. Got a notice (don't remember when in 1969) to report to the St. Louis (Missouri) Army Depot for a "pre-induction physical". Got on a bus near where I lived and got a...

Memory and fact do not necessarily match.  I could swear I was in Lawrence, Kansas at the Lambda Chi Alpha Fraternity common room watching the draft lottery on TV when my number was drawn.  However, that cannot be true, because I graduated in June 1969 and...

29 May 1969: graduated High School7 August 1969: turned 19 years old28 September 1969: I-S classification (high school student) expired16 October 1969: draft physical passed26 November 1969: draft lottery signed into law29 November 1969: enlisted...

The Draft wasn’t scary. At least not to me. Even in high school I understood that rich, connected kids didn’t go to war unless they wanted to establish an appearance of honor upon which to build a career as a politician.  I thought everybody should...

I graduated in the spring of 1969. There was no lottery at that time. In the summer of that year I was instructed by my draft board to go to Kansas City for the physical. I can’t remember if we were bused over or took the train, but the induction center was...

I was one of those caught up in the first draft lottery. I can remember sitting around with a group of friends in Madison, Wisconsin watching the lottery picks on TV. My number was 64 and I knew that I would get drafted.The day after the lottery picks were announced...

I had considered but rejected applying for CO status (I philosophically endorsed WWII), and yet I objected to the Vietnam war. When I got a lowish (under 100) number, I also applied to the US Coast Guard (my option if Graduate School did not get me a deferment) but...

Here is my story about the draft.  My classification was changed from II-S to I-A during that time.  I was notified to put my affairs in order, such as tell my landlord that I had been called up and that I would no longer need my apartment.  I did...

I could never recall my SSN without looking it up until I turned 65, but my draft number in the lottery is one I have never forgotten. July 6th, No. 327.  Even though I had no trouble maintaining my grades, that announcement removed all pressure from the...

The night of the first draft lottery all the guys in my fraternity, Lambda Chi Alpha, were listening to the radio for the draft numbers to be called. When my birthday (July 21st) was called as No. 27, there was a great deal of screaming and yelling at my expense by my...

I was in the first class to be in the lottery but unlike the class to follow we were still able to keep our student deferment if we stayed in college.  I was living in Ellsworth Hall at KU and all the guys were gathered around the 7th floor lobby TV as it...

Oliver Hall, 10th Floor, had a TV in the common area lobby. Everybody gathered to watch the lottery as it was broadcast live. As numbers came out, there were groans and cheers. I drew number 195, reasonably safe, but it was irrelevant to me because I had a I-D...

At the time of the draft lottery I had 3 roommates in an off campus apartment.  I was a first year law student. One guy was in the Coast Guard, one was in Navy ROTC and due to be commissioned an Ensign, the third was a draft dodger who swore that if he got...

In that first draft lottery I drew number 128, and most of the significant events in my life flowed from that moment, in one way or the other. After graduation from UNC-Chapel Hill in 1970, I began preparing to be drafted for service in Southeast Asia. A friend...

I vividly remember being in Allen Fieldhouse, at a KU basketball game, sitting with friends in seats directly behind the basket (where we always sat), when I learned that my lottery number was sufficiently high that I could avoid going to war.  It was...

I was a member of Tau Kappa Epsilon at KU when the initial draft lottery was held. Like a number of houses, we had a $5 pool amongst the members with the lowest draft number winning the pool. The chapter room was packed with guys as the draft pull began. Everyone was...

I recall being very nervous before the lottery. My GPA was struggling at the time as I had just been dismissed for poor scholarship, and had to apply for probation status to continue for one more semester. My brother Charles and I were registered with Draft Board 100...

I was a sophomore at KU when the drawing was held, but having a student deferment kept me from dwelling on the reality of the situation.  As 1971 was nearing its end, I had accepted my certain fate and had even signed up to get the physical (just in case I wasn't...

My year of reckoning was 1968. I had already decided to volunteer for Navy flight but after acing the written test was told I didn't pass their physical. I had no interest in being a swabby or being in the Air Force (bad uniforms) and the Marines were a little too...

I felt relatively comfortable with 204 until I received my "Pre-Induction" notice to report for the physical examination (PE). Impending doom fell over me, for I then believed that the Selective Service forecasters presumed I would be drafted. I had 100...

I had been in Vietnam for almost 9 months when they had the lottery drawing in December 1969, so go figure, that's how my luck is. I have still not won another lottery since. I did win something though--I came back alive.

I can remember thinking, it's just my luck to get a low number.  You have a whole different perspective about the war when it goes from watching it on TV to the reality that you can be in the front line fighting for your life.  I ended up enlisting in the...

My birth date is December 11, 1952. I finished high school in May 1971. I began college September 1971. My lottery number 56 was called up so I had to leave college and began basic training August 21, 1972 at Ft Knox, Ky. While in basic training I volunteered to go...

I was clueless. I knew about the draft, but didn't give it much thought. I had no control over the outcome. I was headed out to a bar that night, but stopped by the 'tube' room to check out the proceedings. My number--41--was called early, which only gave me more time...

I was at my parents' house for a family gathering when my father turned the TV on. We both sat there and watched the lottery being played. After I don't know how long, my birthdate, November 3rd, was called. To my relief, I was No. 348. Most of my friends were not so...

I remember very distinctly sitting with about 400 other guys in the dormitory at KU (Templin I believe) watching the TV show that would announce our lottery numbers.  As the evening started, men that got a low number were shocked.  Many started weeping, some...

I was attending the University of Kansas when the 1969 draft lottery was implemented. At the time I was living in a coed dorm, McCollum Hall and we all gathered around the television in the main lobby. This is a large dorm; three wings, 10 stories so there was a...

I was keenly aware of the televised draft lottery on December 1, 1969 and very scared for the outcome and how it might affect me.  Rather than suffer through watching all the 366 draws, I chose to attend KU's home basketball game vs. Marshall...

There are a handful of numbers you always remember. The street address of your childhood home. Your social security number. The date of your wedding anniversary. And, if you are a man of certain age, you remember your draft lottery number. Mine was 159.You remember...

I was a junior at the University of Kansas, studying for a physical chemistry test that night and somewhat oblivious to the drawing.  My girlfriend called me and said they just drew my number.  I asked "OK, so what was it?"  "No....

I was in medical school with a deferment when the lottery was held. I was due to graduate in 1972 so I was considering the Berry Plan. The Associate Dean was a General in the Air Force Reserves and told me that the draft would end for sure in 1972, and not to sign up...

My draft number in the 1969 lottery was 129, but I beat the draft.I received a draft notice in December 1966, but by then I had already enlisted in the Marines for 4 years in November 1966, and was scheduled to go on active duty to Parris Island in March...

I was a member of the Delta Chi fraternity, and one of the guys that was a math major started a pool for the upcoming draft lottery. It cost five dollars to enter and the person with the lowest draft number would win the cash in the pool. Don went through the...

I thought I was just lucky but after I watched the lottery at my parents' house everything changed.  My birthdate of September 14 was drawn first. I went in the Army and after basic I was told I would drive a Tracker Trailer in Vietnam. I was assigned to the...

In 1970, I was living in Naismith Hall on the top floor with other KU graduate students.  I was already enrolled in the NROTC program, so I was not going to be drafted no matter what my lottery number turned out to be.  It was 104.  I did not even know...

I was at Sterling College when the first lottery was drawn that affected me.  I remember that we were all in the basement TV room. As the early dates were drawn, if it was a birthdate of one of guys in the room they just got up went to  their...

I was drafted on March 18, 1971, two weeks before I graduated from high school. I was 18. I went to the recruiter office in Portland Oregon and asked if they could wait until I graduated before I went to get killed. They said yes. But then my brother-in-law who had...