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How many of you were drafted?

D

DH in Carolina

Member
Got drafted in 1968 and went to Vietnam on my senior trip. Went from cleaning out horse stalls with a silage fork to rebuilding and installing rotor heads on cobra helicopters for the 101ST Airborne. Was a heck'a learning experience as I had never been more than 300 miles from home. Can't say i enjoyed it but wouldn't trade the experience for nothing . DH
 
I was drafted in June of '72. The draft ended in July of '72. I was one of the last. It was a presidential election year. To boost his popularity Nixon ordered no more draftees to be sent to Viet Nam. I heroically served my country in sunny South Florida manning a telephone 7-4 five days a week at a Herc. site in the Everglades. I still have nightmares. ;-)
 
Not near old enough to have been around during a draft, I will be one of the first ones in line if they do start drafting though.
 
I fooled them. I joined the Navy. My mom told me I got the notice right after I was in. I was right off of the farm. It was a learning experience. I spent some time over seas also. Only a month in Vietnam. Japan, and the Phillipines were where I spent a lot of time. Those were the days. Stan
 
I enlisted in the nave in 1968 so I would have a little control over where I ended up. As it happened 9 of the 13 in my class at engineman school went to Nam on the river boats. The other 4 of us went to Guantanamo Bay (GTMO). Most of the guys there hated the place as you couldn't get off base. I, on the other hand, thought it was a lot better than being a junior on a ship.I made third class before I got transfered to a ship and it was a lot easier that way. The ship was a small tanker and we went up and down the coast of Nam for 6 months pumping off fuel to small shore bases before the ship was transfered back to the Atlantic fleet where it had been "borrowed" brom some years before. A few months before I got to the ship, while it was anchored in DaNang harbor, enenmy swimmers planted a mine on it and blew a 4' square hole in the side. Lucky they picked a cargo hold or I wouldn't have had a ship to go to. They sent the ship to Subic Bay for repairs and that's where I picked it up. Talk about nervous. They had a sentry walking around and around the ship anytime it was at anchor and if he even thought he saw something over the side went the grenades. Like being in a barel and having someone hit it with a sledge hammer.
 
I got drafted 1968 about 3 months after I graduated. Spent 8 weeks in Vietnam Long bin, MOS 31B20. 4 weeks Japan, R&R to Korea GMZ 13 months 7th divison Camp Casey-Camp Hove. ETS March 1970. Well I can't say as I enjoyed it also. But the old saying was it make you or brake you. Grew up fast!...Mike
 
Drafted Jan 1968,6 months later I was in Vietnam.Served [with pride] in the 9th Infantry.
We were in the Delta and I walked point,and did re Con till I came back in June '69.
Finished hitch at Ft. Benning Ga,on a Commite Group.
 
Same here, got my notice for physical and then joined the Nav, 18 mos in Phillipines then tin-can homeported in Yokosuka, going down to Vietnam for shorebombardment (I'm Stan too).
 
Came very close in January of '70. Passed my physical on Jan. 8 at Fort Hayes in Columbus O. They told us we had 3 weeks before we would get called. They never called.
 
Got drafted in 1953. The Korean War ended in July 53 and I went Airborne. Ended up at Bragg
with the 82nd until I was discharged. I was rehired back at my old job. Hal
 
I was never drafted. I got out of High School in 1970. I was eligible the 2nd year of the draft lottery, my number was 361. Figured I wasn't supposed to go. If it had been a low number, I was going to enlist, but didn't have to. THANK YOU TO ALL YOU GUYS WHO SERVED!!!!!!!!!!!!! Chris
 
Nov '66 draft. My older Bro had joined the Navy in 63, and was offered a delta boat in 66. he declined. 65-66 there was no real deferments.
 
had to get a deferment to finsh high school on june 29 1944 i was in the navy got lucky and went to aviation electrian school more luck i stated in the states the whole 2years and got out . enjoyed it all. Arthur H. AEM/3C/USNR.SV
 
Got out of school in 68 and went to the draft board and told them to put my name on top.. had a small # .. so figure get it over ... the gaurd called me on monday and draft called 4 days later ...
Went from milking to repairing jet engines .. boy what a waking ...
Don't find to many tractors with a jet engine ..
Mark
 
I was drafted in April 1963. Basic and AIT at Fort Dix, NJ. At the time there were 20,000 GI"S in Viet Nam and classified as advisors. A passport was required to be there. I had orders cut to go there and had all the paperwork and at the last minute all orders were canceled and I went to Fort Knox, KY. The military was a great experience and helpful in growing up.
 
Drafted in 1966. Arrive in-country Jan 68. (Just before TET) Served with 9th Inf. Div. Then Home.
Led
P.S If you don't know about the 9th as I told one state senator, did you see Forrest Gump!!!!
 
I am not so sure the draft ended in the summer of 72. By the way, I tremendously respect all who serve, the country owes you a great deal.

I got out of high school in May of 1972. I had a draft card and I could swear there was a lottery in the fall of 1972. I remember I had a real high number and was enrolled in college so that was the end of that.

Went back to the farm in 1977 with a degree in ag.

I had always though of going into the Navy like my uncle. My youngest son turned 21 at sea. I guess he took my place. He is EN3 Painter. He is part of the VBSS team from the USS Steven W Groves FFG-29. Visit, Board, Search and Seizure.
Basically pirate and drug hunters. He cannot tell me where he is now.

Gene
 
I did not get drafted but because my draft card was 1A I joined the Navy so I could at least have a little say in where I would go and what I might do. I spent 6 years in and came out with some problems which I'm still fighting the V.A. on. My step son just went to boot camp a week ago so he is carrying on where I left off
 
Went into the Navy in Jan of "70 and assigned to Fleet Air Wing Two (VP squadrons 1-4-6-17 & 22) and then to NAS Norfolk. They actually gave me TDY to a horse farm in Virginia Beach for 3 weeks prior to my discharge in Jan of "74 to "acclimate" me back to civilian life - just the opposite of DH in Carolina
 
Enlisted for a school just before I was about to be drafted. Opted for three years to get a school. Never regretted that doing that. This was back in '62.

Areo
 
I also graduated high school in May 1972. I had to register for the draft in September when I turned 18. I"m pretty sure they had a draft and my number was high. I don"t think they started withdrawing troops till 1973.
Untitled URL Link
 
Draft card said 1A but I wasn t out of high school till 1974. Nixon said he would end the war when He ran, I listened to the Watergate hearings all summer in 1973 running a 4 row cultivator.
 
Registered for the draft on my 18th birthday.

Don't have a clue what my draft lottery number was.

After graduating from high school in '69, immediately joined AFROTC in college.

Graduated from college in 3 years, got commissioned as 2nd Lt, and trained as a pilot.

22 years old, flying jets, and getting paid for it; second best job I've ever had.
 
I graduated in 73. I had to register, but never got called. I think sometime in 72 they stopped drafting people. One cousin went in 68, and a lot of guys from our neighborhood went in 69 - 72.
 
Guys, My B-day 3-5-57. Registered for the Draft March of 1975, April birthday kids didn't have to Register!
I was never called, Went to College and on with my life.
Later,
John A.
 
Mom found out she was pregnant with me the day my Dad got his notice, this was 1967. Don't know what the draft requirements were at the time but I wound up keeping my Dad from going.

I volunteered and joined the Navy right out of high school. I did my time on board ship. I spent the Gulf War onboard the USS America in both the Red Sea and then in the Persian Gulf.
 
Enlisted Navy on Tuesday. Got final draft letter on Saturday. If I had split personality I coulda done both. So score was Navy by 4 days. Treated me real good. NAS grosse ile, mich. Aviation and Recruiting. Landscaping in my spare time. Couldn't watch Vietnam movie till last year. Dave
 
Some of you may be surprised to know that the "draft" (aka the Selective Service System) is still alive. The SSS has been mothballed but local boards still exist and take periodic training just in case the all volunteer idea does not meet the needs of the nation. In fact, the whole shebang could be put back in operation and be delivering our young men in 120 days after congressional action to restore it.

I am on the local board for my area (west central Indiana). I do this for two major reasons. One, as a boomer age kid (who was not taken due to a 4F back) I thought there were a lot of inequalities in the way it was run back then. The other is that I would really like to see universal national service be required of all our kids with the military being one of the options. The SSS is in place to administer this with very low start up costs (shovel ready?). I think many of our children today have no appreciation of the price that has been paid for the good life they enjoy and they have no sense of obligation to "give back" to the nation. A couple of years in the military, or teacher corps, or forest service, or working in public health or any of many other needs that we have as a nation would not only strengthen us but them as well. Universal service- men and women, no deferments from service. When you turn 18, show up and tell us what you want to do and when you will do it. If you want to go to school first, fine; but when you are done with that you still have to do your time.
 
Hay Hal, what was the knick name for the AA..:) :)

I went to Jump School at Ft Cambell class of 57

Keith & Shawn(Gold Medal Winner)
 
Aloha,
Drafted in 65' and ended up in Germany for 18 months. Best time I ever had. Thanks for all those serving now and also the Vets.

Mahalo,
doogdoog
 
I dodged the draft in 1953 by joining the Army. I guess I showed them. 36 years later I got the heck out.
 
My former brother-in-law lives in Honolulu. He served in WW2, Korean and Nam. He's in his 90's. He grew up there when he was teen. His name is Jack Diehl. His son was killed in Nam. Hal
 
I joined the Navy just a couple of weeks after I turned 18. So the whole selective service/lottery business passed me by. But I always wondered what fate had handed to me as far as a draft # was concerned. Then about 5 years after I got out I met a guy who was born the same day of the same year as I was. (My sister married him) # was 22. He got drafted so I guess I would have been too.
 
Drafted in 1968,had a pud job(test and evaluation command) until I was sent to RVN shortly after Tet. Although I did'nt enjoy my VN service, I have never regretted serving my Country. Bigwheels
 
Got drafted in late '65. Went to Louisville, Ky where about 10 of us out of 1000 got called out. A Marine recruitor asked us how many wanted to sign up for 4 years in USMC. I replied 2 years in the army was going to be bad enough. He said don't worry about the army, congrats your going to be in the USMC. I didn't like it at that moment but it was one of best experiences of my life.
 
Yes, off the job '68-69. Spent one yrar in Germany in the four star of europe basement reading his mail. Returned to fed job and retired 36 years later. Rather a good time in europe.
 
I was of the age that the first draft lottery applied to me. My number came up 352, and I was never called. Had friends whose numbers came up in single digits, who enlisted in the Army. Two guys who were scared to death of going to 'Nam ended up in Geryman...while the third buddy who enlisted with them, and who actually WANTED to go to 'Nam, ended up in....HAWAII. One of the three came home in '75 after his discharge, couldn't find a job, so he turned around and enlisted in the Navy.
 
I was drafted in mid 1966 and served in the 208th MP Company at Ft. Leonard Wood, Missouri.

FLW provided my basic, AIT, and permanent duty station. I was in the first AIT class for MPs as Ft. Benning couldn't keep up to supply the needs for stateside and Vietnam.

I received a 90 day early out in order to go into civilian law enforcement. So many officers were drafted and serving that there was a void needing to be filled, hence the early out availability.
Army days at the 208th MP Co.
 
As Maxwell Smart [agent 86] said : "Missed it by that much". I had number 298 in the draft..Just missed it..My father did not miss it during WW2.. My dad was born in Finland , Fought in the Russian - Finnish war [Talvi Sota] winter war..After Finland had their asses handed to them by Russia he came to the U.S. for a new start..He and his best buddy settled in NYC with the intentions of sending for their sweeties when they got settled..After being here for 6 months , both of them got drafted and ended up in Guam and the Phillipines..Both were not even citizens of the U.S. yet..
 
I was flying Navy combat missions in the Gulf of Tonkin in 1966 when I got my notice that I had been drafted. :)

Gordo
 
Joined the Air Force Jan 11, 1960. Served At Blytheville AFB, Arkansas and Ramey AFB, both B52 bases. Made liquid oxygen. Discharged July 5, 1963 and been farming ever since.
Joe
 
Sounds a little like my family.

My grandfather was born in 1882 in Poland (then part of Russia) as a slave (or serf bound to the land). He served in the Tsar's army as a conscript for two years before Russia fell apart and dropped out of the war. He went back to farming and raised a family. Just before WW2 started he shipped his children off to the US to live with relatives while he waited for his pregnant wife to give birth before following them. The Nazis invaded and he found himself being mobilized to fight them only to be marched in the opposite direction to meet the Soviet invasion. He was taken prisoner and shipped back to the depths of the Soviet Union and somehow escaped and a couple years later showed up in New York on a returning Liberty ship (by hook or crook).

His wife's twin sister (a Catholic nun) had taken refuge at the family farm after the Nazi's had ordered all schools and religious centers closed and most of their members arrested. When the Nazis found the sister everyone in the home was arrested. My grandmother and her twin sister along with my twin uncles (about three months old) were never heard from again.

Upon arrival in the US my grandfather tracked down his children and found his three oldest sons had been drafted and my father (about 10 at the time) was being passed from family to family as he didn't have a ration card (undocumented immigrant?). Grandpa started farming and my dad was his only farm hand so he quit school in the 8th grade to farm full time. When Korea rolled around dad was drafted early and hard and sent to Korea as a replacement rifleman (no education or "vocational skill" gets one a front row seat in the army). Eventually he was wounded and sent home to recover and was discharged from active duty as a corporal. Later I learned he was in the reserves for years afterwards and wasn't discharged(?) from the reserves until the early 1970s. That kind of surprised me considering he had a sizable farm and 12 kids depending on him.
 
I was in VP-48 my entire 4 years. When I first got to the squadron they had P5M sea planes, then we got P3'S. A lot of good times. Stan
 
The actual draft was long gone by the time I graduated high school in 1993. Still left for Navy boot camp a week after graduation, but that was my own doing.
 
I was in college (Washington State U) in 1969, and got a copy of the letter the college sent my draft board saying I wasn't making "normal progress" toward a degree. When I started college in '66, you got a 2S (student) deferrment for 4 years. Long about '69, military was getting hard up for bodies, so they started requiring the colleges to look at transcripts of all juniors, and notify draft board if he wasn't going to be able to get a degree in the 4 year period (due to change of majors, etc.). If your draft board got "the letter", your deferrment was yanked and you were drafted in pretty short order. I think Wazu was one of the few schools that sent a copy of the letter to the student, so lots of guys didn't even know about it.

I came "thaaaat close" to signing up for 2 year ROTC program to keep my deferrment, but through an incredible set of coincidences, ended up joining the National Guard. The had the lottery while I was in Infantry training, and my number was 40- so would have been taken anyhow.

Every regular army guy in my Infantry training outfit went to Nam when training was completed in November '69, and they didn't even get to go home for a week first- just put 'em on busses and took them from Fort Lewis to adjoining McCord AFB, and shipped them out. They couldn't let them go home, or many would have gone AWOL and never returned.
 
Two years Army ROTC and then joined the Air Force in 1958. Two years later Disability retirement. Able to recover enough to lead a
normal life. Even flew Sailplanes for several years. Flying was my first love. If I had it to do it over I think I would have gone into the
Navy.
 
Hello DH,
Yep! I was drafted............... 1967!
To all the veterans:
THANKS AND HAVE A GREAT DAY!:~)
Guido.
 
There is something to said for Switzerland's and Israel's system. "Everybody" does a mandatory stint in the Armed Forces.
Their reserve system has some advantages as well.
 
Actor that played him was WW2 vet, wounded in pacific, recovered and assigned as drill instrutor- credits the yelling at recruits for voice training that helped him get into acting.
 
Got my notice in july 66 and stepped forward in Aug of 66.Ft Bliss for Basic and FT Sill for AIT as a fire direction controller. Jan of 67 assigned to the 3rd Target Acquisition Battalion 25th Artillery,on hold orders for OCS, Feb 67 signed for a radar platoon,s equip, talked the First Sargent into going to radar school in spare time 12 weeks later had new mos as a radar operator Oct 1967 turned down Warrant commission, did rest of tour at Sill June 68 applied for early as a farm laborer out which was grant 29 june 68
Thanks to all the others who served.
 
Got drafted two days after I enlisted in the Air Force on July 1966 got put in to radar operator school had orders for a 36 month tour in Germany for a new computerized system BUICII had a serious car wreck while on leave spent 3 months in hospital near home orders got changed to Minn. for two years in computerized SAGE then went to Thailand with a BUICII site prototype and lots of cloak and dagger spent last 9 months at Fort Lee SAGE site. The amazing thing is most laptops today have 100 times more capacity and speed than two of our units that covered 5000sf. Now that I look back wish I had gone to Germany.
 
Thanks for post on VETERAN'S DAY!
I was lucky to graduate from high school in 1972 and got my number - kinda high but I was worried but never had to serve in Viet Nam - seems like others are about the same age.

My thanks goes out to all the Soldiers who are serving now and especially to those who have served in the past to keep the USA strong!

In my simple opinion, the WW-II, Korea, Viet Nam wars made us a better country but I'm wondering where we are going from here!

Once again, my simple opinion.

Jim
 
Facts >

born May of '50'> married 'Dec.of 69' > drafted 'Feb.of 70'

Basic in Fort Bragg, NC, was promoted to E-2 before end of Basic (for those of you who don't know, everyone in the Army is E-1 until first promotion and that is to E-2}

From there went to Fort Leanord Wood Mo. for AIT, or (MOS) 62D2 (asphalt Equipment Operators Course)

Completed course,and got orders for Viet Nam.....

Then went to San Francisco California for Deployment to Vietnam... stayed there for a day and decided this is not for me

So I just

went AWOL... a few times

Long story short, spent 49 days in Army Stockade in Fort Leanord Wood Mo. and after that about two weeks in a facility on base and got my discharge...

an Undesireable Discharge, or UD.... that was in early fall of '71'

~Will
 
A regular draftee during the Korean policing action (not war) was 2 yrs service and 6 years inactive reserves. Then you got your discharge. I went through that from 1952 until 1960.
 
I graduated from high school in 1969 and then went to college at Eastern Washington State. I didn't think that there was anything that would keep me out of military service, so I joined the Army ROTC unit at Eastern, thinking it would be better to be an officer than a grunt. I liked ROTC pretty well and learned a bunch of things in those classes that I probably would never have been exposed to without them. At the end of my Sophomore year, they had us take a pretty comprehensive physical and I passed. So I had to decide if I was going to sign up for the "advanced" program and essentially enlist in the Army. If I remember correctly the enlistment would have been for 4 years after college graduation, however I also would have started getting paid for going to school.

But about that time the Draft Lottery occurred. I got a high enough number that I thought I might not ever get drafted. Tired of going to school, I didn't go back to college for Fall quarter of 1971 and was reclassified 1-A. I worked through that school year, partied with my friends and managed to save quite a bit of money. At the end of my year of eligibility for the draft, they had come within 10 of my number, but I was never called.

I went back to college the next Fall and school went a lot better for me. I had needed a break, and after I had one, I was much more serious as a student. I trained to be a teacher, but that was not to be.

During my Senior year, I got hired as a Deputy Sheriff, and that ended up being my career.

I kept getting letters from the ROTC department at Eastern, asking if I would come back and finish the program. During my early years as a Deputy, many of the new people that were hired after my group were RIF'ed Army Officers, who had been let go with the much smaller force they thought would be needed after Vietnam was over. I finally contacted the ROTC department and explained that I would not be interested in going on in ROTC, especially since most of the guys who were RIF'ed were very squared away and had not wanted to leave the service. If the Army needed officers, it would make more sense to allow the already trained officers to return rather than starting with new guys from ROTC. I never heard back from the ROTC department.

Most of the guys I worked with had been in the military, and some of them had interesting stories to tell from their service days. Some also had skills learned in the military that they were able to use as law enforcement officers.

I always have wondered about what I missed by not being in military service--I am sure some of it would have been really good and valuable, but I know that some of my friends went through some really bad, scary times. Who knows what might have happened for me?

So that's my story. Thank you, to all the people who ended up serving in the military. We owe you!
 
Never even registered, wasn't old enough, and was too old when the reserve registration was instituted. Flunked my Army commissioning physical (they said I was blind) at Fort Ben after 2 years of AROTC at Purdue. Some of the other cadets (and all of the cadre) were nam vets, so we heard a few stories.
 
Would not have been necessary had your Countries Leaders entertained the wishes of Ho Chi Minh and cast the yoke of French Colonial rule after WW2 and given the people their Country back which was eventually achieved and what a price.
Politicians,say no more ...
 
I finished high school in May of '67 and went to every major employer in the area filling out job applications.These applications had a blank in the upper r/h corner for draft status.1-A for me,a kindly old personnel man at the Union Carbide plant pointed to it and told me to come back to see him when I got back home.A woman my Mother knew served on the draft board and told us I'd likely get the call in October.Along about this time a friend came home on leave from the 82nd Airborne and I admired his jump wings and spit shined Corcoran Jump Boots.And I'd been seeing job offers in the newspaper for qualified airplane mechanics in Atlanta paying $7.50 per hour.I cut a trail to the recruiters,Navy was full up,Air Force was full up.The Army guy talked sweet,he guaranteed me a mos in aviation,and I signed a paper volunteering for the airborne.I was going to get trained to repair aircraft and get to jump out of airplanes and wear those wings and boots.As it turned out I did get an aviation mos,not mechanic but door gunner.My entire training class received orders for Viet Nam except me.I was told to report to the orderly room.The executive officer waved that paper I'd signed around while hollering that only fools and birdshit fall out of the sky and this piece of paper was causing the company to come up short and that I should sign it again to null the agreement.I didn't and went to Fort Benning instead for Parachute Infantry training,following that to the 101st Airborne recently sent to the RVN.Everything worked out perfectly,after 9 weeks in the infantry a notice was posted asking for helicopter door gunner volunteers,I think I was selected because of my previous training.Out of the Army I got the first job I applied for.Brakeman on the Southern Railroad,only because of listing the 101st Airborne on my short resume,the interviewer told me so.I was chosen over 60 other applicants because his boss was a WWII veteran of the 82nd Airborne,he glanced over the applications and told him that I was the one he was looking for.How's that for veterans preference? Better than the points they add to civil service test scores!
 
Friend of mine from high school joined the Navy the same day I did. He got orders to NAS Dallas TX to await orders for a ship. He spent his four years at Dallas. Got hops all over the world for vacations.The base did not know what to do with him so they told him to just go home and check in once a week.Twenty miles from home and free trips anywhere in the world. Talk about a Navy screw up. He told me it was the best four years of his life.
 
Lotto # 57 , I-A , April '70 basic & AIT Fort Polk La. , MOS 11C10 81 mm mortars , the rest you can probably guess. Voting , drinking and serving your country should be a package deal the year every man OR woman reaches 20 yrs old!
 
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