Bill, North Carolina, 1969. No. 357.

I was a junior at the University of North Carolina when the first lottery came along.  I was opposed to the war and I was worried about what would happen when I graduated.  The war was getting bigger and more people were being drafted.  I had been in...

Jim, 1969. No. 1! Drafted.

"If you are one of the thousands of men who escaped the draft in the lottery years, we want to hear from you." Who escaped?? Well, hooray for you.I was number 1 (September 14, 1948) in the first draft lottery. I wasn’t even watching the nationally...

Greg, North Carolina, 1969. No. 366! Drafted anyway

I was finally drafted in Sept. 1969 (after a year of avoidance due to a problem ankle but by then they would take anyone). It was impossible to get into the nat’l guard or the reserves. The navy and air force had waiting lists to get in. At the induction...

Wayne, North Carolina, 1969. No. 240's

At the time of the draft, I was a senior at UNC and planning to get married and go to graduate school after graduation.  I had mixed emotions about the war, but would have served if I had been unlucky with the lottery.  My friends and I were all sweating the...

John, North Carolina, 1969. No. 222: Enlisted.

I graduated from high school in 1966 at the age of 16.  Entered UNC that fall and flunked out by the following autumn. After two years of junior college during which I held a 1A draft status, I was in the first lottery in the fall of 1969 while at Western...

George, California, 1971. Not called.

I was going to go.  Although I couldn’t see myself actually using a rifle.  My father was an Army paratrooper during the Korean War and had a career in the Air Force afterward.  He met my mom in 1951 – in Japan.  My mother was...