Almanac: The 1969 draft lottery

As the war in Vietnam raged on and anger about U.S. involvement burned in protests across the country, a lottery was held on December 1, 1969 in order to address perceived inequities in military conscription. Lee Cowan reports.
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[@poisonwatersupply]

Knowing my luck, this would be the only lottery i would ever win lol.

[@SteichenFamily]

My dad won. September 14th. 1st date drawn 🤷‍♂️

[@DeezN1892]

Imagine how scary it would be watching this live wondering if it’s gonna be you

[@dannyklemmer3316]

My exact thought lmao

[@nguyencongly8210]

Lol

[@HacksignKT]

right?

[@DonMetcalf]

I remember watching this lottery on TV. It’s the only one I ever won. I was selected 001, September 14th. I had been classified 4F before it took place, but I can tell you, it was a real shocker to say the least. So grateful to be here today.

[@harrypatatochips139]

Hey Don, what does 4F mean,?

[@DonMetcalf]

@@harrypatatochips139 it's a classification term the draft board uses for recruitment that means you are medically deferred for service.

[@robackerman7236]

@@DonMetcalf why’s that? Can you explain a little bit more

[@qv6486]

@@robackerman7236 Medical reason to exclude one from military service can include conditions such: Flat feet,Tuberculosis, Anemia, among others.

[@janefelix3821]

@@qv6486 Today anyone with a disability, which includes anxiety disorder, ADHD, depression, or bipolar, would be classified as 4F as those disabilities prevent someone from enlisting. Given that those issues are subject to interpretation (not definitive) virtually anyone today who would go before a draft board can end up classifying as 4F.

[@hanseinarfuglum8858]

THEY TURNED THE HUNGER GAMES INTO A REAL THING

[@DonJose86]

Or they turned the real thing into the hunger games

[@dualshockedofficial]

This feels so dystopian. Especially with the conflicts going on today.

[@MightyTiki]

In 1969, my dad was already serving in Vietnam, he went on to serve 36 1/2 years active duty. I still find it hard to believe that he was serving with men who fought in World War II and Korea at this point in his life.

[@alyssadaughertybell1391]

Tell him I said thank you

[@Ticccpeppaaaa14]

@Kakashi Hatake wtf

[@runninbyfaith777]

I can't imagine the impending doom the young men and their families felt waiting for that damn drawing and then watching it on tv.... Horrible.

[@cecedubois5147]

It was horrific. A group of fellow college boys gathered around our black & white TV. James Burch got #007. Another boy got #11. We cried. James went, and never came back. People who never went through it have no idea. 😢

[@runninbyfaith777]

@@cecedubois5147 so sad. I'm sorry you had to live through that. 🥺

[@topgeardel]

Thank you. You describe my experience of that shameful process very well.

[@topgeardel]

@@cecedubois5147 I went through it and I know exactly what is was like. I proudly resisted the Draft and did not go to Vietnam. Nevertheless, your post makes it even more horrific.

[@jintzie1950jth]

I was away at college in 1969. I watched the draft lottery on TV with my friends. It was so painful. One boy signed up and went to Vietnam withou

[@jintzie1950jth]

t telling any of Islam. He came back, he had lost two fingers. He said he felt it was his duty to serve.

[@littleme3597]

@@jintzie1950jth When men were MEN.

[@leoisanerd]

@@littleme3597 I don't think its that manly to be forced into a war knowing very well you can die.

[@DeezN1892]

@@littleme3597 manly man is when blindly nationalistic and annihilate yourself because your government literally forced you to. You people are so cringe

[@marcspardello1254]

@HeadshotCraft what is manly in your estimation? Is hiding behind a computer while you make asiassinine comments, high on your list?

[@eldandi6086]

An unnecessary war. Send the politicians instead.

[@akui88]

i am gonna guess this is the only lottery many didn't want to win!

[@kishascape]

The Gashapon of death.

[@cecedubois5147]

They did this again in 1970. 😢

[@joymcguire]

Those were sad times.

[@donaldjones7678]

I was number 26. I was a grunt in Vietnam 1971

[@wilhollowayy]

i was number 9😬

[@closetglobe.IRGUN.NW0]

How was it?

[@closetglobe.IRGUN.NW0]

@@wilhollowayy how was it?

[@alexpearson7693]

Glad you made it home!

[@Grammarpolice1214]

This was the og hunger games

[@FlagKing11]

It’s literally the hunger games

[@fenian123]

Hey Dale, your birthday is number one! Dale? Dale? Hey has anyone seen Dale?? he was just here!

[@marksanchez7323]

What an awful system. They should have polled eligible men to see if they supported or opposed the war and then started with those that supported it. There's a reason we've had a volunteer military for the last 5 decades

[@MetoF50Narliev]

Don't worry, the new system in place ensures enough desperate for job men to enlist voluntarily.

[@komori3789]

I was just looking for the Kareem Abdul Jabbar draft.

[@TheAhmedmajeed]

I was born on September 14 1997…. If I was back than… I will be the first wave!

[@MrDuboce]

One of my classmates, also a star athlete, was born Sept 14, 1949. He soon got his induction letter and was sent to training in New Jersey. He was in combat by Sept 1970. He came home later that same year, in a body bag.

[@TheAhmedmajeed]

@@MrDuboce Oh man… War is no joke!

[@theilluminatibenefactor]

​@@MrDuboce I'm so sorry for your loss.

[@on2wheels378]

That was the year my favorite uncle was drafted into the Marines.. When I started my military career and I first deployed in Operation Just Cause and came home safe, he was the first to welcome me home. He was the first to send me letters, other than Mom and Dad.. We weren't there long but the mail caught up to us in Ft. Benning after Just cause.. After that, uncle Mark always always wanted to wish me home in my many deployments. Well, Welcome Home Uncle Mark, I know your generation suffered unspeakable disrespect when you came home. 11B 1985-2009 11Z Retired US ARMY Sky Soldier.

[@Sh00terMcGavinXL]

To quote a line for the series The Pacific "What kind of Marine gets drafted?"

[@on2wheels378]

@Sh00terMcGavinXL I don't know, many were in ww1, ww2, Korea and Vietnam. Tell me what kind were they?

[@Sh00terMcGavinXL]

​@@on2wheels378it's just a quote from the Pacific Snafu tells one dude that claims he was drafted what kind of Marine is drafted. Because most Marines are volunteer and enlist or choose to be commissioned. But over 95% of the people drafted in Vietnam did get conscripted into the Army as Infantry.

[@NicLuc]

This must have been horrible to watch. What a crazy, torturous process to televise.

[@PrimarisBlackTemplaDraven]

I would joined the Navy so I could come back alive

[@janefelix3821]

You needed connections to enlist in the navy back then.

[@PrimarisBlackTemplaDraven]

@@janefelix3821 dang it guess I'll Die

[@janefelix3821]

@@PrimarisBlackTemplaDraven You needed connections to join the National Guard too as they were not deployed. Unlike today where they are begging and bribing people to join.

[@WickedlyMe328]

My uncle was 364 May 5th. My dad and his brother were also high numbers and never would’ve been selected. They all volunteered

[@marknagle5828]

I had just turned 9 that year. Nixon ended the draft in '73, thankfully. I remember having to register with SS in 1980, when Carter started the register requirement. He sure made a lot of us young men nervous. To all of those who served, you have my respect.

[@dennismartin3356]

The changes to the new draft laws include both sexes and all genders, thank you Democrats. Those that run this time will not be forgiven as if they do this your citizenship will be removed.

[@RJC96cj]

March 14th is number 354. I served anyway.

[@josephforbes7911]

This is the lottery you don’t want to win.

[@jwsf941]

What number was November 16th? That's the birthday for someone I admire who was already "in country" at the time. I always wonder what if he was 5 years younger (so he would have just turned 18 when this happened)?

[@carolyns.9377]

As far as I know, it would be 107

[@hutchijosc]

Everyone on our floor of my dorm contributed $1 for a lottery. The lowest number won. I was studying and lost track of the time. I looked up and realized it was a few minutes after 8 pm. I reached over to turn on my radio, and the door burst open with everyone yelling "you won!" My number was 3. I won $75. I called my girlfriend at Ohio State. Drove down and blew the money on a great weekend.

[@DonMetcalf]

So were you drafted? Did you have to serve?

[@abdirahmanidris290]

If this is Vietnam, i can't imagine what World war 2 drafts would have been like considering how much bigger the conflict was

[@kishascape]

Yeah well at least that was more a purposeful war after the Japanese attack. Vietnam was just political BS.

[@janefelix3821]

They did not use this system during WW2. Basically, any man in the draft age could be called up. This system came into existence in 1969 to be fair and also at that time it was only to be used for a few years as the draft was going to be eliminated shortly.

[@afridgetoofar1818]

If you were under the age of 30, you were pretty much guaranteed to be drafted in word war 2

[@jared1964]

This would NEVER slide today

[@cristianflores1588]

House just now approved it 😂

[@calebt4yahweh210]

0:56... I wouldve been drafted m bday is Feb. 6th... o for christs sake hope they dont do something like this again!

[@dankwank1308]

He said December 6th

[@SactoShane]

Man this was the darkest NBA draft lottery

[@Therealiceboy120]

💀

[@arturopalos2739]

Cruel. To serve in a war that was lost and now we import cheap items from that same country.

[@janefelix3821]

Try it today and let's see what happens.

[@twostupidasianonecupnoodle]

June 8 must have been so devastated

[@Therealiceboy120]

It’s still stupid how they treat it like it’s the nba or nfl and air it on live tv and act like it’s a good thing to be drafted. Honestly for me, I would go to college and major in a useless degree just to avoid the draft.

[@matthewmead121]

My uncle from my dad's side was reaped to go to Vietnam but he couldn't serve because he had high blood pressure.

[@May-rd1hf]

Just looked it up. My son (Sep. 10th) would have ended up around the 70+ numbers. Can't even imagine how cruel it must have felt. (Ironically my daughter (January 17) was like a 300+ number).

[@dennismartin3356]

Been there done that. Enlisted instead of having this hanging over my head.

[@thurstonhowell3569]

Just heard my birthday called. December 6th. Fortunately I was only 7 years old at the time.

[@sirquacksly]

_May the Odds be Ever in Your Favor_

[@stantoncarroll5760]

Dec 26th draft number would have been 173 if i was born in that era

[@user-qk2qm5ju8e]

Please post the unedited broadcast

[@itsjan987]

Who’s here after the US Selective service tweeted “in case of a possible draft”? 🤭😭

[@Yzzo1]

oh my Oct 26 a day before my birthday

[@Dr.Smackadoo]

Oct 26, your draft number was 7. You got called bud

[@OFM1209]

I would have had to go.

[@gooseguy815]

JUNE 8TH BABY LETS GO

[@cristianflores1588]

And the house has approved it…it’s about to happen if the senate approves it

[@jonesy4588]

deciding who lives and who dies for nothing

[@YouMe-ru6wi]

I hear all this talk about a potential WW3 with Russia or China, and that it could result in the draft being reinstated. I could only imagine in this day and age if the draft were to be brought back how the general public would react to such a thing?

[@janefelix3821]

It would be 10x worse than the reactions in 1969. Essentially it would fail even before anyone showed up and in the end only those who want to enlist will actually enlist.

[@Jenda-ld8dj]

@@janefelix3821 And the rest would be forced to enlist.

[@janefelix3821]

@@Jenda-ld8dj It is nearly impossible to force anyone to enlist. To put it in perspective, during President Nixon's first term (1969-73) roughly 12,000 who were told to enlist, refused. That was roughly 3% of the total. However, the DOJ could not handle 12,000 prosecutions so in the end most of them ended up getting a free pass, one of them was the future President, Bill Clinton. At that time he was a law student at Yale and had the DOJ decided to prosecute, there would have been jurors from Yale and the Black Panthers as they set up shop in New Haven, CT. So even if the jury voted 10-2 to convict, by policy, that would be a hung jury, mistrial, and he would have gotten off anyway. So in the end, out of the 12,000 who refused, less than 300 were pursued and less than 80 went to jail, better odds than Vietnam. Keep in mind back then 65% of men of jury age served, today it is roughly 7% of the jury pool served so good luck getting any convictions.

[@marksanchez7323]

There is never going to be a draft in the USA again. Part of the reason our military is so strong today is because it's all volunteer. And in the event WW3 started we're all dying in a nuclear armageddon anyway

[@cecedubois5147]

​@janefelix3821 when you're drafted, you have two choices: show up, or face prison.

[@alexanderslounge-pv6ih]

I would have lost LOL

[@LeoWhalen1933]

Can someone explain why this was done at this time? December 1969 seems like pretty late in the war and they were already bringing troops home.

[@loganfruchtman953]

How did trades work back then?😂

[@eliclaunch123]

The lottery you do not want to win

[@Ariesgvd]

This was a great way to prevent mass protects and rebellion. Each person feeling like they had a chance

[@marksanchez7323]

This was an awful system and part of the reason why Vietnam ended conscription in the USA. How can you believe that randomly selecting people to die is smart? The first people to be drafted should have been whoever thought the war was good in the first place

[@SuperRip7]

I wish a draft would return to the U.S.

[@larrysouthern5098]

Not in 2019!!

[@skywatchermissouri4172]

My birthday 3rd dwn the list dec 30th i would been a lotto winner gave me the chills seing it

[@DonMetcalf]

It was scary to watch, especially when you're picked #1. I was 4F at that time, just having completed my physical and failing it because of a disability from a badly broken ankle shortly before. I never had to serve in that stupid war. All wars are stupid. I had enlisted before because I wanted to go to Europe and have the benefits of the GI bill. My father served in Korea and suggested to me that If you enlisted, you would have a better choice of the type of service and where you would be stationed. I was young and stupid, with no understanding of war and killing. God was looking out for me. Later in my life, I had a past life reading and found out that I had served and died in WWII as a pilot in England, so I guess I wasn't going to repeat it again this time around. Feeling grateful to have lived such an entirely blessed life so far this time around. 🙏

[@HuckleisMyHoney]

Mine was the 7th called. Thank God I was born in the late 90s and am a female.

[@stevemiller1345]

I dont understand how this works

[@fenian123]

If a person had a low number, they were more likely to be called up

[@toadhas1104]

Was 065 chosen

[@hbkgreatestever]

My birthday is literally June 8th lmao

[@ennuiblue4295]

Happy late birthday

[@88mphsss]

Did they not have Powerball and Keno ball machines back then? I don't think it's a true lottery once it's been chosen by hand.

[@lancemcclure6017]

Soon Again!!! So glad I’m retired from the Navy. Go get’em America. Go make us proud…

[@amosonyoutube]

damn i would of been pretty early 22 november. that would suck.

[@AxiosElectric.]

June 8th #3660 out of 366. Hell yeah i was never going to see war

[@arinthium4018]

Its cool guys, we have twice as many people to draft now (women can equally serve with they boysssssssss)

[@chaole1000]

After the draft ended, I wonder if there was an increase in propaganda that provoked stronger sense of patriotism to get people to voluntarily join the military.

[@A_M_P_]

May 22nd, I would have been #326

[@MilaMila20240]

The only lottery in history where everybody wins. My birthdate was called out. By luck born in the 90s. Either way these poor young men during that time. 😔

[@tylere.8436]

Well, given geopolitics right now, we might have to go through this too. Women could be included too.

[@Rx330lexuslover]

So sad! I would flee this stupid country either way

[@glenknapke6771]

Just turned 60 feels acts 14

[@Gunner_0306]

February 29 guys be 😂

[@Biggerfoot]

This is gonna happen again, thats why your seeing these videos again

[@fenian123]

There will be AI soldiers by then

[@JjBluBerry]

HELP I WAS NUMBER 004 IN 0:56

[@LuvSttxna]

Take those 5 years people. Do not fight for America

[@glenknapke6771]

A Conscript ARMY journalism

[@the-chipette]

Who’s here from 2024 after Iran pretty much declared war on Israel?

[@jesush7016]

My friends birthday is June 8th and mine is June 9th

[@PatrickCucuta]

What?’

[@topgeardel]

You had to live during that time to realize what a total bit*ch living under that Draft lottery was. I was a proud Vietnam/Draft resistor....and I did not go to Vietnam. But that damn war occupied and held hostage almost my entire high school years. It was incredibly irritating and surreal to me to watch those **** play "God" with my life in a "lottery" system.

[@edospina97]

Yeah no thanks.

[@thomassmith3279]

I would have been save 😂

[@YaBoiBricky]

I would’ve been drafted 💀

[@Vil_Iain]

Worst draft class in nba history

[@bobmurphy8091]

S lottery smottery… When you got called it was not a great experience !!!!!! Life deals the cards , then you play them or live with the consequences. Tough choices for a young man about to face death… You younger people will never understand this… THANK gawd!!!!!!!!!

[@dpmikek]

# 9 what a surprise

[@sweeneycrow478]

America...

[@CB-hp1zn]

Whats westley west kids age?😮 maybe banning California can confirm that

[@StopNuclearBallisticMissle]

If this were to happen today, there would be a lot of mutiny. The way it would go is be trained all the way up till you get deployed, then turn on your commander because it'll be a suckers deal going wherever you're going, same as Vietnam. 😂

[@janefelix3821]

Most won't even bother enlisting as there will be no way of enforcing it.

[@cecedubois5147]

​@janefelix3821 failure to register at age 18 is a felony punishable by imprisonment. They have six ways to Sunday of finding you if they want you.

[@DonMetcalf]

Back then many men went to Canada to avoid the draft.

[@markjayvillamayor4625]

This is bullsh1t

[@TwanistATR]

i wouldn't of served

[@someguy9607]

Could be transgender drafted? I mean nowadays in case if drafting will be active again.)) Will they serve in very special regiments? Gachi-muchi corps?

[@janefelix3821]

Depends on the laws that Congress passes if/when they decide to reintroduce conscription.

[@vintage_sole4065]

Bruh… knowing my luck i just seen my birthday😂😂

[@jacobtennyson9213]

Good thing Amish, Mennonites,JW's Quakers and Shakers were not in the draft lottery.

[@ronniep9272]

Bush and Trump never went

[@danielonn2002]

Females must be required to join the Selective Service

[@tpt213]

USA Lost the war. Lol

[@HVACSoldier]

And SOME Democrat voters want to bring it back, calling the AVF a “failure.”

[@kishascape]

So make them put their boots where their mouths are and have them drafted first.

[@HVACSoldier]

@@kishascape At least draft their kids first.

[@Light-co6hr]

​@@HVACSoldierniga joe biden is going to do it

[@HVACSoldier]

Highly unlikely to happen:

[@HVACSoldier]

@@Light-co6hr He’ll probably say, “Come on, man. We need to maintain a strong national defense, and without volunteers, we might be forced to reinstate the draft. Don’t make me do it. I don’t want to do it. But I’ll do it, if I have to.”

[@chucksucks8640]

The psychological ploy they used was that your friends, co-workers, and family knew your birthday and if you didn't show up to the army recruitment center they would know you avoided the draft. They can then turn you in or you can live with the shame of being too chicken to go.

[@cameronnhaydensreviews1003]

I’m trying to figure out how it works I was born in 1999 I’m just curious

[@janefelix3821]

This is how it worked, not works as it ended in 1973.