I was drafted early 1970. Looking back, I wish I had refused induction, like Muhammad Ali, and spent my 2 years in federal prison. I think only a draftee can understand why.
I was with a group of my fraternity brothers the night they announced the numbers. One of them actually got #1 but as it turned out my #114 wasn’t any better. Got my induction notice in Sept. 1970 and flew from Richmond, VA to Ft. Campbell, KY for basic...
Deferments were relegated to history by the time I became eligible for call-up, as was only fair. As it turned out, no draft board went above 95 for 1972, which turned out to be the last full year of the draft. Although I took no evasive action to avoid...
I graduated from Robert E. Lee high school in Jacksonville in ’67. Guys I knew where already in Vietnam by their own enlistments, including my brother. I was enrolled in junior college which gave me a deferral for the remainder of ’67 and the...
I graduated from high school in 1966. My dad was a WW-II veteran and I always had it in the back of my mind to eventually enter the service. I bounced in and out of two different colleges after getting out of high school and in the late fall of...
The draft ended for me when I received the number 287 in the 1971 lottery. From the results of previous lotteries, I knew that I had a high enough number that I wouldn’t be called. I had grown up with the draft and came to several opinions.I opposed...
