The "The Lottery Was For More Than Winning Money!" Story

It was an ordinary day.  December 1, 1969 and the day the draft lottery was supposed to solve all of President Nixon's problems.  It's been over 50 years ago that the Vietnam War was wreaking havoc with those of draft age in the United States.  Many guys burned their draft cards in opposition to the war in Vietnam.  Others moved across the border into Canada to avoid being drafted.  Some even joined The Pease Corps or declared they were conscientious objectors.  Conscientious objectors were exempt, but could be assigned noncombat or civilian service in lieu of military service.  Those with physical or mental deficiencies as well as men with children or family member dependent upon them were usually exempt from the draft.  Students preparing for the ministry and enrolled in school full-time could defer service as long as they were making satisfactory progress towards compeletion of their degree.  Other college students were granted a deferral until the end of their current semester.  Everyone else was part of the draft to serve their country.  With troop levels jumping from 82,000 in 1965 to 500,000 by 1967, there was little chance that one wouldn't get drafted.  Anti-war activists were everywhere.  President Nixon sat in the center of it all when he took office in January of 1969.  He didn't get us into the war and didn't look like he was going to be able to get us out of the war.  But, he expressed a desire to begin a drawdown in troop levels.  His hope was to eliminate the draft and move the U.S. military to a volunteer force; an almost impossible challenge.  On November 26, 1969, Congress moved to modify part of the Military Selective Service Act of 1967 that gave the President the authority to change how the draft worked.  Just so happens that on the same day, Nixon issued Executive Order #11497 which allowed for random selection or a draft lottery.  

Rotating the numbers in the military draft.

Didn't take long before the draft was held; December 1, 1969.  A slip of paper for every day of the year, including February 29, was placed into a plastic capsule.  The capsules were mixed in a shoebox, poured into a drum and drawn one at a time.  The first number drawn was 258, or September 14.  That meant that all capable men born on September 14, between January 1, 1944 and December 31, 1950 would be called to serve.  Numbers kept being drawn until the drum was empty.  At the time of the draft, 850,000 young Americans were affected.  I had just turned 25 years old a few months before, had never served in the military and had married two years earlier.  I had begun teaching high school a few months before the lottery began.  It was decided that 19-year-olds would be drafted first, altering an earlier rule in which the oldest end of the pool was chosen first.  Was it a fair way to defend our country and help our allies?  Some felt that those who had wealth and could afford college were at an advantage.  Rather than alleviate the draft opposition, it surged opposition.  The new lottery method was used in 1970, 1971 and 1972 and was set to expire in  1973 under the original provision of the order, but the January 1973 cease-fire agreement negated it entirely.  I'm not sure why I was never called, but I didn't complain.  Perhaps the fact that my first son was born in 1972 put a different light on my eligibility.  When the lottery numbers were first drawn, I knew where my date fell, but not anymore...and I don't really care at the age of 75.  It was another extraordinary day in the life of an ordinary guy.