# How did men of my father's generation know their draft number was coming up **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [April 9, 2013, 6:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-men-of-my-fathers-generation-know-their-draft-number-was-coming-up/655247 "2013-04-09T18:06:10Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 12\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Hail\_Ants](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/dc4da7/32.png) [@Hail\_Ants](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hail_Ants)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2013, 3:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-men-of-my-fathers-generation-know-their-draft-number-was-coming-up/655247/21 "2013-04-10T03:50:59Z")
> [@Amateur\_Barbarian](#): > > Double randomization, to make it seem more fair. Didn’t just \*seem \*more fair, statisticians proved that the two draw system actually was (a little bit anyway). ---
**Author:** ![Prof.Pepperwinkle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/prof.pepperwinkle/32/13627_2.png) [@Prof.Pepperwinkle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Prof.Pepperwinkle)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2013, 2:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-men-of-my-fathers-generation-know-their-draft-number-was-coming-up/655247/22 "2013-04-10T14:49:05Z")
> [@cochrane](#): > > Actually, there were 366 dates and numbers to account for those with birthdays on February 29. But I turned 18 in 1971, ergo only 365. By 1972, as stated above, the draft was gone. I was “lucky” enough to be in the last year of the draft. ---
**Author:** ![John\_Mace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_mace/32/185_2.png) [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2013, 3:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-men-of-my-fathers-generation-know-their-draft-number-was-coming-up/655247/23 "2013-04-10T15:01:44Z")
> [@JerrySTL](#): > > My number was something like 150 in 1972. I planned to join the USAF after high school anyway, so it didn’t really matter. Same year, and mine was ridiculously high. I don’t remember it exactly, but \> 300. Of course, there really wasn’t any draft at that point, so it didn’t matter, but still.. that was a bit of a relief. ---
**Author:** ![Fear\_Itself](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fear_itself/32/19637_2.png) [@Fear\_Itself](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fear_Itself)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2013, 3:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-men-of-my-fathers-generation-know-their-draft-number-was-coming-up/655247/24 "2013-04-10T15:40:46Z")
> [@RealityChuck](#): > > I was 86 in 1970… So, how old does that make you today? ---
**Author:** ![Gagundathar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a183cd/32.png) [@Gagundathar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gagundathar)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2013, 3:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-men-of-my-fathers-generation-know-their-draft-number-was-coming-up/655247/25 "2013-04-10T15:53:26Z")
Danggit,\*\* Fear Itself\*\*! That was my line. Look at the script next time. My lines are highlighted in green, yours are in blue. Harrumph! ---
**Author:** ![Gagundathar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a183cd/32.png) [@Gagundathar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gagundathar)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2013, 4:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-men-of-my-fathers-generation-know-their-draft-number-was-coming-up/655247/26 "2013-04-10T16:07:38Z")
As I was only 12 or so when the last conscriptions were called up, I feel rather blessed. I remember when Saigon fell (or was liberated) and while my younger brother and I listened on the radio in the car with our father, he commented in his stentorian tones, “Boys, now you are so lucky to never have to fight in that useless war.” That actually made a difference in my political mindset. My father was a WW2 vet. He believed in the war in Vietnam until it became… well unbelievably stupid. I have him to thank for many things, but this is certainly one of them. A volunteer Armed Forces is a really much better thing. But as was mentioned upthread, the majority of our forces in that dread and stupid conflict were volunteers. The USA should choose its targets wisely, prudently and with an eye to the future ramifications. “Never again should we do this,” I said, speaking about Vietnam at a political rally in the 1980s (contrary to my contractual obligations at the time). But I had never served except as a civilian contractor, so many might think me just a coward. If I were born earlier and my number was called, I would have served. Proudly, but with a deeply seated fear that those who created this war were unaware of my existence except as a number. ---
**Author:** ![Pixel\_Dent](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/bc8723/32.png) [@Pixel\_Dent](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pixel_Dent)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2013, 4:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-men-of-my-fathers-generation-know-their-draft-number-was-coming-up/655247/27 "2013-04-10T16:28:30Z")
> [@Hail\_Ants](#): > > Didn’t just \*seem \*more fair, statisticians proved that the two draw system actually was (a little bit anyway). My understanding of this is that the double draw draft was only “more fair” because in some of the initial single draw drafts the capsules weren’t mixed up very well before the drawing which led to obvious bunching of birth dates. If the capsules had been properly randomized then the single draw draft would have been no less fair than the double draw draft. ---
**Author:** ![lk1932](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/aeb1de/32.png) [@lk1932](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lk1932)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2013, 7:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-men-of-my-fathers-generation-know-their-draft-number-was-coming-up/655247/28 "2013-04-10T19:19:52Z")
Way back in 1953, I knew that being drafted was just a matter of time so I called the draft board and was told that I would be drafted in 3 months. The lady at the board was right on. 3 months later I was in the army. ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2013, 7:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-men-of-my-fathers-generation-know-their-draft-number-was-coming-up/655247/29 "2013-04-10T19:26:32Z")
> [@Fear\_Itself](#): > > So, how old does that make you today? Sixty. Like Merlin, I don’t age, I youthen. ---
**Author:** ![lk1932](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/aeb1de/32.png) [@lk1932](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lk1932)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2013, 7:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-men-of-my-fathers-generation-know-their-draft-number-was-coming-up/655247/30 "2013-04-10T19:49:05Z")
It makes me 80 years old. (1932) ---
**Author:** ![Leo\_Bloom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leo_bloom/32/10377_2.png) [@Leo\_Bloom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leo_Bloom)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2013, 12:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-men-of-my-fathers-generation-know-their-draft-number-was-coming-up/655247/31 "2013-04-11T00:45:48Z")
> [@Daddypants](#): > > My father enlisted in the Coast Guard in the late 50’s because he knew his draft number was coming up. In the late 60’s my father-in-law knew his was coming up, so he enlisted in the Marines (he thought his bad eye sight and flat feet would disqualify him, he was wrong)… Jesus, he must have been surprised. Did he ever recall that situation when you tried to blow something off saying you were sick? > [@Amateur\_Barbarian](#): > > … > Good place to toss in that of about eight million who served in the Vietnam era… > > six million > > …were volunteers of one kind or another. Never knew that. Thanks. Throw me a cite, OK? > [@Fear\_Itself](#): > > My number was 59 in 1972, but they weren’t drafting anybody until they turned 19, classifying 18 year olds 1H, or “holding”. The draft law expired the day after my 19th birthday, and it wasn’t renewed, so technically I was 1A for 24 hours. This is a notable username/post linkup. ---
**Author:** ![boytyperanma](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/4491bb/32.png) [@boytyperanma](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/boytyperanma)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2013, 1:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-men-of-my-fathers-generation-know-their-draft-number-was-coming-up/655247/32 "2013-04-11T01:21:23Z")
> [@chrisk](#): > > As a follow-up, did enlisting in your preferred branch of service and being disqualified really shield you from the draft? I would think it would be easy for the draft board to say “Well, we’ll see if the Army can still use you first.” They weren’t afraid of running out of people to draft, so if someone up for the draft already enlisted in another branch, they didn’t feel any need to steal from the other branch when they had plenty of other people to pull from. Allowing people to enlist voluntarily in a branch of their choosing brought more people into the armed forces for longer durations so it was a win win to let them do so. Two of my fathers good friends were drafted and died in service. My fathers number had not been called yet but he was worried he’d suffer a similar fate so he did his research and found the air-force was recruiting for a lot of positions that wouldn’t put him in direct combat. He spent the remainder of the war in Guam loading bombs on planes. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-men-of-my-fathers-generation-know-their-draft-number-was-coming-up/655247.md?page=1)