Ron, Missouri, 1969. No. 113: Patching up Amputees

The lottery number changed my life – I knew I would be drafted upon graduation in June 1970. I had already accepted a job in New York, but knew I would have to borrow money for clothes and a car before getting drafted, and then would not be making enough money...

David, Washington, D. C., 1969. No. 232: In the Gray Zone

The Vietnam War draft lottery was a watershed event in my life, as I suspect that it was for so many others. I entered the University of Missouri in the fall of 1966 as a member of the McDonnell-Douglas Co-op Program in engineering. As the oldest of four children...

David, Missouri, 1969. No. 196: One Over the Limit

I was number 196. I graduated from Mizzou in June 1970 and was called for an army draft physical by mid-June 1970. I was advised during the physical I would probably be drafted in Sept. 1970. During August 1970 a newspaper article appeared that said in St Louis the...

Chris, New Hampshire, 1971. No. 288: Not Necessarily Good

I listened to the lottery drawing on the radio and knew the birthdays of my classmates. Several of them had low numbers. Mine was 288, so I was safe. My low-numbered friends enlisted to have a choice of what they wanted to do. At the time they were saying about half...

Bill, South Carolina, 1969. No. 304: Western Union Teletype

I registered for my draft card in the middle of my senior year of high school in December, 1966, and the draft was definitely on our minds when my class finished high school in 1967. All I knew was that many of my friends were going on to college and 14 of us (3 girls...

Bill, Missouri, 1970. No. 175: The Cost of the Draft

I was a senior at Mizzou the night of the first lottery. I remember the thinking if I got 200 or above, I’d be OK. If I had been born one day earlier, my number would have been 1. If I had been born a day later, my number would have been 12. I got 175. When I...