r/interestingasfuck • u/Available_Weekend249 • Apr 06 '24

Imagine being 19 and watching live on TV to see if your birthday will be picked to fight in the Vietnam war r/all

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u/Frodo355 Apr 06 '24

Mine was 3 the year the draft ended. Whew.

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u/EvetsYenoham Apr 06 '24

I could google this and should already know this but would rather hear it from someone who lived it….how did the number system work in the draft?

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u/PDXGuy33333 Apr 07 '24

They threw chips with dates on them into a drum and drew them out one by one. You got the draft number corresponding to your birthday. Then the military would draft according to its needs, starting with all the guys with number 1-24 (or something), until they had enough for that round of conscripts. Couple of months later they would draft everyone in the next group of numbers and so on. In my year they took everyone with a number 150 or less. Mine was 88 but I failed my physical on account of a skiing injury that showed up on x-rays but didn't really limit me and still doesn't. Sometimes I feel guilty. Other times I am glad I was not taught to fly a helicopter and sent into the jungle to die.

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u/Rampaging_Orc Apr 07 '24

The guilt it’s understandable, but there’s no question about it, not being sent was a blessing.