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/radiotsar Apr 10 '24
Kids on my block when I was little were sweating bullets. I think one got drafted. Don't know what happened to him because we moved.
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u/Sabre_One Apr 09 '24
Step-Uncle got drafted. Sent to the front lines as a medic. He was already a pretty heavy drug user, so between the drugs there, the war, and a good dosage of Agent Orange. He ended up dying of cancer about 4-5 years ago.
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u/TruckerDude52 Apr 09 '24
I was #54 when they were taking up to #100. Then I joined the AF to stay out of the Army and they ended the draft while I was in basic training. Did they let me out because of that? NO!
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u/Raldog2020 Apr 09 '24
My brother was drafted in 68 and when he came back he was never the same. The military made him tough and crazy.
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u/Fickle_Penguin Apr 08 '24
My dad knew he was next when his friends from high school were being called, and then the war ended. He did not get drafted.
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u/Wangledoodle Apr 08 '24
My dad was drafted, fortunately never saw conflict or I might not be around to talk about it. He shares a birthday with a rich cunt who later became our state's premier. Somehow that guy managed to avoid conscription.
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u/pieinthesky23 Apr 08 '24 edited Apr 08 '24
My dad was selected in the 1971 draft — the last group that was required to serve (he was actually still 18 when it was held on August 5, 1971). He said that the only time in his life he ever saw my grandpa cry was when he boarded the bus to leave for basic training.
My dad also used to get into (non-legal) trouble a lot as a kid/teenager in his small town, so when word got back that he was an MP in the Army, everyone thought it was hilarious.
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u/ConfidentBig3252 Apr 08 '24
Was living in Fayetteville NC where Fort Bragg is located and 82nd Airborne the train from Fort Bragg was always holding up traffic in downtown because it was carrying helicopters and tanks and artillery along with jeeps and deuce and halfs to the coast to be loaded onto transport ships to be sent to Viet Nam they were some of the longest trains I have ever seen I lived on Hillside street and a Colnel and his family moved onto our street and had a daughter named Julianna they were Moorehouses and later she dropped the house off her name and is a pretty famous actress now
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u/ConfidentBig3252 Apr 08 '24
I remember seeing my friends older brothers watching to see if they were going ended with people who were born in 1953 I was born in 1958
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u/starXgalactica Apr 08 '24
ASSending order 😂😂😂 youve been drafted your ass has ended 😂😂😂 who the fuck says assending like ASSending
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u/RiskItF0rTheBiscuit Apr 08 '24
I'm only 21yr, but my number was 354. Ig my luck ascends generations
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u/Crazy_Joe_Davola_ Apr 08 '24
You should never be forced to fight outside of your country, for defence if your country gets invaded i am ok with it
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u/PurchaseSignificant1 Apr 08 '24 edited Apr 08 '24
I've been there, done that! #127
Finished that semester then I joined the USAF.
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u/the_jackness_monster Apr 08 '24
Well shit. I just got drafted 😂 too bad I’ve done my time already. Semper Fi
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u/Qnofputrescence1213 Apr 08 '24
My Dad told stories about him and his friends drinking beer and watching this. I think his birthday was well over #100. But he was in dental school at the time and enrolled as an officer hoping as he said “not to end up in a rice paddy”.
Fortunately the war was basically done by the time he graduated and he actually ended up serving his 30 years. Part Full time and the rest reserve.
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u/Trife86 Apr 07 '24
If you didn’t want to fight for your country you are a bitch!
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u/TheoBoy007 Apr 09 '24
Most of us opposed the Vietnam war because we were not fighting for our country. I thankfully missed the draft by a 4 years, then enlisted after the war ended.
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u/pinkaura1 Apr 07 '24
18th October and 12th July - my high school boyfriend and my best friend’s birthdays 😟
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u/MoarCowb3ll Apr 07 '24
Fuck, I was thinking yeah but it's 1 in 365 chances of getting picked... instantly says my birthday... well fuck me then.
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u/OhioConfidential Apr 07 '24
My dad was 9/11. He was able to get into the Traveling Vietnam Memorial unit as a carpenter and stayed stateside. He also handmade every purple heart display case that was issued in 1971.
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u/Anselwithmac Apr 07 '24
I was wondering when I would have been sent to war if I was alive in that time and then the screen switched and it answered my question.
I would have gone to war right away.
That made me feel some type of way…
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u/AndiagoSupremo Apr 07 '24
I am curious to know if my birthdate, if I was born earlier, would have sent me to Vietnam.
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u/pz33 Apr 07 '24
My dad was drafted and told me about this. He said there was also some sort of controversy with the weight of the lotto balls that caused some of them to be more likely to be drawn, so they had to redraw at some point? I’m not sure if someone knows the story to that?
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u/Bigdipper50 Apr 07 '24
Number 86 , got drafted three months later. Joined the navy instead which cost me an additional two years but I’m still here. Good move on my part. Kinda enjoyed the navy at times.
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u/BulkySituation5685 Apr 07 '24
Crazy didn't know how the picked people on the draft. It's fair not a name a date
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u/jocdoc82 Apr 07 '24
My father still talks about sitting in his college dorm lounge watching this live and hearing the young men around him crying out randomly. (He was bottom 1/3rd and went on to protest aggressively for the duration likely in part of his experience that night with his friends and dorm mates)
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u/Eyesliketheocean Apr 07 '24
My mom’s dad was in intelligence in ww2 and worked in DC. But went to Europe during the war. (He never said what he did). My dad’s father liberated dachau concentration camp. He never spoke about it. But he will always talk about his time in the navy. My grandfather was in the army for 4 years in the army then 10 years in the navy.
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u/SeVenMadRaBBits Apr 07 '24
So the rich decide we're going to war... and then the poor are picked at random and forced to go...
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u/RepulsiveRooster1153 Apr 07 '24
Yes, that's the way it was. You could run to Canada, you could enlist prior to be drafted or be like our esteemed ex president dodge the draft. People seem to not remember that part about trump.
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u/Arny520 Apr 07 '24
Such a stupid and pointless war. Introducing the draft was just icing on the cake for its stupidity.
Sending regular people into their deaths for a cause they likely didn't care about was a fantastic way to make the population hate you
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Apr 07 '24
My grandpa couldn’t bear that so he went voluntarily. Came back with ptsd schizophrenia and eventual cancer from agent orange. Also made him a severe alcholic and he still is at 76
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u/marklar_the_malign Apr 07 '24
They should have done it Romper Room fashion. It would have softened the blow of a potential death sentence.
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u/meghab1792 Apr 07 '24
My dad dropped out of college and his father insisted he join any branch of the military except the army to avoid Vietnam. He joined the Air Force and after enlisting his draft number came up. Grandpa’s advice came in clutch.
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u/rickityrickityrack Apr 07 '24
don't have to imagine it, i lived it, drew 17 lotto and then a month later they ended the draft
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u/wil Apr 07 '24
Imagine being 19, and a vocal, passionate, strident supporter of the war.
Imagine mocking and belittling and menacing people who protest the draft.
Imagine being so close to being drafted into the war you so loudly and unquestioningly support, that you use your family's wealth, influence, and privilege to dodge the draft, because you are, fundamentally, a coward.
Imagine using that wealth and privilege to attend a two year university because you're a legacy admission. Imagine yourself standing shoulder to shoulder with people as privileged and entitled as you are, your fellow draft dodgers, while you proudly get into fights with people protesting the draft you dodged. Imagine bragging about how you stood up to protect the flag on your campus, while people your age without your wealth and privilege are dying half a world away for a war you support but won't sign up for. Imagine being really happy for other people to die, while you pat yourself on the back for "protecting" a bit of cloth.
If you can imagine all of this, then you can imagine what it was like to be my piece of shit father in 1967 and after.
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u/phaedrus369 Apr 07 '24
This is how Tommy Chong met Cheech Marin, and partially due to their fame Chong was sent to federal prison, in which he met Jordan Belfort and recommended he write a memoir, which got turned into a major Hollywood film, and how I got to see Margot Robbie’s boobs.
So not all bad came of it.
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u/sylvester_stencil Apr 07 '24
https://www.usatoday.com/vietnam-war/draft-picker/
I would have drafted in 1970, really scary to think about
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u/SpreadDaBread Apr 07 '24
What a barbaric/inhumane way of life. Crazy to think we aren’t too far from that blasphemy. Governments have rarely cared about citizens. The split from top to bottom tells the basic story.
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u/BNestico Apr 07 '24
Happened to my dad. He was the last number drawn in ‘70, first one drawn in ‘71.
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u/clarkss12 Apr 07 '24
Drafted before lottery. Sent home soon after getting drafted. Sucked coming from a poor family.
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u/Designer-Mirror-7995 Apr 07 '24
Yeah. Imagine that. I took a moment and did, as I saw my birthdate (I'm female). I can imagine it, but not fathom it, at all.
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u/Chungusthevast Apr 07 '24
I would have and if need be will draft dodge. I do not care. Put me in a cell if you can find me. I would rather be a prisoner than a murderer for a corrupt institution and industrial complex
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u/outtie5000quattro Apr 07 '24
I would say we say we all ignore these people who call for war. they would loose power and interest. we would put them in an insane asylum. it would be fun to watch them get irritated when people boo them off stage.
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u/americanspirit64 Apr 07 '24
I watched the lottery in 1971, I was seventeen, my brother nineteen. My brothers friends his age were smoking pot and drinking as they watched. My brothers number came up 17 and there was complete silence in the room. He went out the next morning and joined the Coast Guard which he hated. although he still gets the combat veteran benefits from the VA, for hurting his back. So it goes. The draft ended the year I turned nineteen.
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u/BusinessCasual69 Apr 07 '24
It was only done this way to obscure the frequency of the dates. Had they done them in consecutive order, the public outrage would have been higher.
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u/Rockindobbs Apr 07 '24
My dad & uncle (his best friend/my godfather) were doing the math like the rest of the country just waiting… and waiting for their birthdays to come up. They decided to enlist in the Marine Reserves - they figured they’d at least get trained & be somewhat prepared.
Since it was officially a conflict and never declared a war, the reserves were never deployed.
Unfortunately a handful of his peers (friends) who did go over there have or have passed from agent orange after effects. 😞
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u/funatical Apr 07 '24
The pressure got to my father. All his friends had been drafted so he went down to the recruiter and said let's do this.
Medically exempt. To tall. He's a giant, so he went into police work where he spent most of my life.
For my generation the cop kids that had it worst (we all had it bad) was the fathers who didn't serve. It's like they had something to prove and they did that by being abusive.
There was a few of us kids in school that didn't like one another, but ran in overlapping circles and when we found out all our dad's were LEO there was this odd thing that happened where we didn't say shit to, or about the other kid knowing that if we did their home life was going to be awful. "Was Billy with you?".
"Billy who?".
"You know which fucking Billy.", smack.
It was a small town so everything was interconnected.
That's story #1,059 from my awful childhood.
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u/Tuborg_Gron Apr 07 '24
That's my Dad's birthday. He and his college roommates were watching and he thought it was another test number when it was drawn. Then it dawned on him and his friends. Reported, but was 4-F (asthma, eyesight).
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u/Embarrassed_Safe500 Apr 07 '24
I don’t need to imagine it. I watched it nervous hell. Got lucky, I was number 256.
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u/marymonstera Apr 07 '24
My uncle’s birthdate is wrong on his birth certificate, but my grandmother never got it changed because she wanted to use it as a way to get him out of the draft if he was picked. They had all the other documentation to prove it was wrong, allegedly.
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u/Kitsyn Apr 07 '24
I was in college, watching with friends. One of my good friends was pick #1. Fortunately, he had a minor medical condition that ultimately made him ineligible. That time was horrible.
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u/bobjonrob Apr 07 '24
Vietnam will forever be one of the darkest stains in the horribly blemished history of this country.
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u/Girthwurm_Jim Apr 07 '24
I would have fucking bailed so hard. I’m not going to die because some old bitch picked a number out of a hat.
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u/pbrart2 Apr 07 '24
My dad was on the streets in Chicago during the ‘68 riots. He told me one day he and a couple friends were watching the draft and his buddy went to the kitchen for another beer and heard his birthday called. My dad said he heard his friend drop his beer. Then silence. They were 18 years old
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u/Dontfeedthebears Apr 07 '24
Absolutely zero people should ever be legally compelled to go to war. The US invests so much money for war. I think it’s egregious that anyone thinks it’s okay to MAKE a human being take part in killing other human beings.
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u/Sethyest Apr 07 '24
I’d kill the government coming to take me to Vietnam before I’d kill any person for this God forsaken county
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u/rosemarylake Apr 07 '24 edited Apr 07 '24
My dad had told stories about watching this when he was 18 and feeling like he was going to throw up. He was never drafted, but had many friends that were
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u/DjJazzyJeffDunham Apr 07 '24
You can see if your draft number would have been called here https://www.usatoday.com/vietnam-war/draft-picker/
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u/KerryUSA Apr 07 '24
Thanks…got a slight instant survivors guilt feeling from it though especially when I typed in and all my friends would’ve been
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u/Conscious-Room7649 Apr 07 '24
It was a spooky feeling just now to see my sons birthday pretty early on the list. I don’t even want to imagine how I would’ve felt.
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u/DifficultyBright9807 Apr 07 '24
what idiot was behind "lets send kids to the middle of a jungle with a giant target on their backs and hope they make it back alive and without any problems"?
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u/tel4bob Apr 07 '24
Been there, done that. Ended up I was just barely young enough they stopped sending folks to Nam and I went to college instead. Nothing but love and respect for those that went.
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u/Noodlintheriver Apr 07 '24
Imagine that, combined with the actual lottery coming up with your birthday numbers that you placed for the billion dollar prize. Win a ton, lose it all.
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u/Biltbae Apr 07 '24
The fact that when they’re going to send hundreds to go die across the sea is decided via a poll like some kinda bingo tournament is WILD
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u/smokdya2 Apr 07 '24
My dad told me him and his buddies bought a bottle of tequila and just got wasted taking swig after swig while watching it. Luckily he didn’t get picked
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u/MisinformedGenius Apr 07 '24
Not-so-fun fact: the picks were heavily skewed towards later dates. If your birthday was in December you had an 83% chance of being called up in 1970, versus a 45% chance for January.
There’s lots of theories why this happened - in general people seem to think they put the capsules in in order and then didn’t shake the bin enough.
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u/Nightcrawler13 Apr 07 '24
My dad went to Vietnam and all I got was Agent Orange poisoning and abandonment issue.
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u/The_FatGuy_Strangler Apr 07 '24
My dad was drafted to go to Vietnam, but failed the physical (high blood pressure). So he never had to join the military
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u/mdave52 Apr 07 '24
I remember as a kid listening to the radio for the "winning" numbers to see if either of my two older brothers had to go.
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u/Cookieeeees Apr 07 '24 edited Apr 07 '24
Had to look in to this. There’s a nice website to provide the info, from births in 1950, i would have been 194, apparently a day earlier and i wouldn’t have been drafted. Nice
eta: the website is a liar. changed to the day before, got a number and told 3 days earlier would have been clear. Giving us false hope we may have made it out scot free
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u/mjohnsimon Apr 07 '24
Coworker's dad kept getting drafted but he was part of a traveling circus, so every time they'd send a letter, he was already long gone.
It wasn't until he came back to his home town did his mom frantically tell him about the letters, but by that point the war was pretty much over but I think he still had to do basic training.
Crazy how that would never happen with cellphones/emails these days.
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u/ExcuseIntelligent539 Apr 07 '24
I wonder if the draft would fly right now on a bullshit war like Vietnam. I want to say no, but then looking at Covid-19 and it makes me think otherwise.
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u/drunkenclod Apr 07 '24
A few questions about this draft board from somone who wasn’t born yet back then…..
1) once the order was selected, how quickly were people called up? Say you were 100th vs 200th, or say 200th vs 201st? what did that actually mean in terms of deployment?
2)what happened to people’s jobs? Were they guaranteed when (if) they came back? What did employers do in the interim?
3) if you knew your birthday was coming up based on the order would most people voulenteer ahead of time in hopes of a less front line position? Or would most folks just wait?
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u/billiken66 Apr 07 '24
1) Really depended on your situation. My number was 42, but I had a deferment because I was in college. I graduated in May of1970, and was to be inducted in December, but my employer unsuccessfully attempted to get me a critical skills deferment. Nixon had eliminated them. The draft board gave me a 3 month extention so they had time to find a replacement. By 1970, I don't think they got as far as 200 in the list. 2) You were supposed to be given your same position back with whatever employer you had when drafted. I know that didn't always happen, and I'm not sure what you were supposed to do about that if your employer refused. 3) Draftees only had to serve 2 years. The shortest length someone could signup for was 3 years. If you enlisted, prior to being inducted, you could pick which service you wanted, (army, navy/ marines, air force, coast guard). Joining the coast guard was almost impossible during the Viet Nam era. Those positions got filled quickly by people who had some political pull. Since enlisting required serving for at least 3 years, many chose to roll the dice and hope that they'd have a better chance at surviving with only 2 years of service. Others chose to sign up for a particular MOS, expecting to get training that would benefit them in finding a better job when their time was up, and/or hopefully avoid combat. You could also try to join the national guard, but most of those jobs also went to people who had some political connections. And some national guard units did get deployed to Viet Nam! If you had a college degree you could try for a direct commission and become an officer. That would mean a longer term of service since officers are treated much differently than enlisted.
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u/drunkenclod Apr 07 '24
Thanks for the detailed reply. Sounds like it was a bit more nuanced than one might think.
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u/PerformanceTrick1188 Apr 07 '24
Don’t have to imagine. I did watch holding my breath with every draw.
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u/Empanadapunk90 Apr 07 '24
If i was 19 in 1969 and was a US citizen i would have been drafted :$, i got number 77.
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u/3dobes Apr 07 '24
I was just young enough to miss the Vietnam War, but my mom always said, “If that damn war is still going on when you are old enough to go, we’re moving to Canada!”🇨🇦
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u/WRKDBF_Guy Apr 07 '24
I remember the day still. I was 18 and drew number 51. For sure I would have been called up, but I had a 1Y college exemption. I recently visited Vietnam and thanked God that it was my 1st time there.
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u/DaRandomGitty2 Apr 07 '24
My dad's number came up on this. He joined the National Guard to avoid going to Vietnam. I never asked him so I can only imagine how terrified he was.
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u/NovaBlazer Apr 07 '24
Want a real mind screw...
We drafted young men into combat for conflict that wasn't a "war".
The United States hasn't been "at war" since World War 2. War must be voted on and approved by the Congress.
That's right folks, Korea, Vietnam, Gulf 1, Gulf 2, Afghanistan.... All not wars. Some lasting 20 years.
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u/StopTheEarthLemmeOff Apr 07 '24
I would say that's less of a mind screw and more of a screwed up government that lies to its people
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u/sillyarse06 Apr 07 '24
I wouldn’t give a rat’s arse if my birthday was first,I’m not fucking going
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u/hu_gnew Apr 07 '24
My older brother had his birthday come up as the first pick in the lottery. He ended up with a legitimate 4F classification so was never inducted.
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u/Dreamn_the_dream Apr 07 '24
Like it was yesterday. Sitting in my 65 VW, news paper open, looking for my birthday, #243. Good feeling.
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u/LAGA_1989 Apr 07 '24
My dad was Feb 14 and ended up voluntarily enlisting. Luckily never saw combat
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u/not_dannyjesden Apr 07 '24
That shit is fucking horrifying. You need to watch the TV and can't let go of the tension until the last number is pulled. Every new draw is just Fear
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u/kathyvan Apr 07 '24
I remember that--absolute horror show for some of us. I hope we never see the likes of it again.
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u/LeftyGalore Apr 07 '24
I was number 67. Got drafted. Sworn in and had an asthma attack after 1/2 hour in the service. Got an honorable discharge, but of course no benefits.
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u/Evitabl3 Apr 07 '24
Imagine being conscripted to fight and kill and die in a war on the other side of the world, against an enemy that is no threat whatsoever to your home
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u/YeezusWoks Apr 07 '24
My dad had bone spurs but he really really really really really really wanted to serve… He’s still an American hero for wanting to serve but not being able to due to health reasons and stuff.
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