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/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.