December 1, 1969

[optimator]

40 years ago today, A draft lottery drawing - the first since 1942 - was held on December 1, 1969, at Selective Service National Headquarters in Washington, D.C

[Major Hogwash]

1. And it was on tv! I watched it when it happened.

It was very dramatic at my house.
My older brother got a high number and wasn't drafted.

[eridani]

2. So did my twin brothers

Big sigh of relief all the way around.

[Javaman]

3. If my brother and I had been born first instead of my sisters...

with our birthdays and their years, we would have went. :scared:

[Gold Metal Flake]

4. Noob-like questions...

Sorry, born in '63 and never had to worry about this.

How did the lottery work and how was it done during the years before (in the 1960s)?

[pampango]

5. Remember watching it in my dorm. Got number 88 and thought I was cooked.

Word was that anything under 150 or so was as good as gone after college. I've never really used my degree but college was good for delaying my induction and having a low draft number made one study hard enough that you had enough credits to stay on track to graduate in four years so that the deferment lasted until graduation.

Fortunately by 1972 when I graduated my county draft board didn't have to go up as high as 88 to satisfy the number they had to provide to the Army - the Navy and Air Force got enough volunteers since they were much less dangerous. (Some boards went up past 88, others reached their quota at lower lottery numbers.)