The Way Back Machine

[Roric]

So as I recall, the phone was ringing off the hook sometime before noon
on a day in February, 1972. I woke.
My head was pounding like the base drum in a parade.
I thought, oh crap, what is going on?
I was the only one home at my parents house and no one else was gonna get it.
"Hello" I said. My headhurt, my stomache was talking dirty to me and I had to pee.
"Ron, what was my number?" It was my friend Bob.
"What?" I said.
The room shifted a little under my feet and I tried to figure things out.
"What number did they draw for me?", He said.
It started to dawn on me.
The draft lottery was last night.
"I don't know." I said. "Hey I'll call you right back."
"No, I'll be right over" he said and hung up.

I started to sort things out.
We had heard about a draft lottery party for the night of the drawing.
The 1972 drawing was for those born in 1953. The drinking age was now 18
instead of 21. The drawing was on tv but it was not fast enough to keep up with
our alcohol intake. It was a blur. Guys were saying that they were going to the
Air Force recruiter in the morning. Guys were saying they'd go into the Navy instead.
Guys were thinking about Canada. Last night was not in clear focus for me.

I peed, brushed my teeth and grabbed a couple aspirin.
I got a large glass of coke and a handfull of Oreo cookies.
When you are 18 you can eat like that.
It was the age of gas allocation, wage and price controls, and
hippies and hard-hats.

Bob showed up with bloodshot eyes and a funny color to him.
We decided to get a paper.

We didn't know that the war was gonna wind down.

We found that we both had numbers that were not going to be reached.

That was 50 years ago.

 

[repete]

The luck of the draw.... High numbers.

 

[Doofy]

So as I recall, the phone was ringing off the hook sometime before noon
on a day in February, 1972. I woke.
My head was pounding like the base drum in a parade.
I thought, oh crap, what is going on?
I was the only one home at my parents house and no one else was gonna get it.
"Hello" I said. My headhurt, my stomache was talking dirty to me and I had to pee.
"Ron, what was my number?" It was my friend Bob.
"What?" I said.
The room shifted a little under my feet and I tried to figure things out.
"What number did they draw for me?", He said.
It started to dawn on me.
The draft lottery was last night.
"I don't know." I said. "Hey I'll call you right back."
"No, I'll be right over" he said and hung up.

I started to sort things out.
We had heard about a draft lottery party for the night of the drawing.
The 1972 drawing was for those born in 1953. The drinking age was now 18
instead of 21. The drawing was on tv but it was not fast enough to keep up with
our alcohol intake. It was a blur. Guys were saying that they were going to the
Air Force recruiter in the morning. Guys were saying they'd go into the Navy instead.
Guys were thinking about Canada. Last night was not in clear focus for me.

I peed, brushed my teeth and grabbed a couple aspirin.
I got a large glass of coke and a handfull of Oreo cookies.
When you are 18 you can eat like that.
It was the age of gas allocation, wage and price controls, and
hippies and hard-hats.

Bob showed up with bloodshot eyes and a funny color to him.
We decided to get a paper.

We didn't know that the war was gonna wind down.

We found that we both had numbers that were not going to be reached.

That was 50 years ago.

My Selective Service Lottery # was 342. Like a fool, I joined the Marines against my parents wishes. I have never regretted my choice but I would not have gone back if they had called me back up after my active duty stint.

 

[Jstpssng]

My Selective Service Lottery # was 342. Like a fool, I joined the Marines against my parents wishes. I have never regretted my choice but I would not have gone back if they had called me back up after my active duty stint.

There were a little over two years that men didn't need to register for the draft... right after we pulled out of VietNam. I fell in that slot. A lot of my friends enlisted but I didn't. They went places I'll never see, and made friends who will still come running if they ever ask.
During the Carter/Reagan years when I came of age we probably saw the least military action ever.

 

[Doofy]

There were a little over two years that men didn't need to register for the draft... right after we pulled out of VietNam. I fell in that slot. A lot of my friends enlisted but I didn't. They went places I'll never see, and made friends who will still come running if they ever ask.
During the Carter/Reagan years when I came of age we probably saw the least military action ever.

For a couple of years 1969-1970, I had a "Student of Divinity" deferment while at college. I decided that being a heathen was much more fun so I enlisted. I quickly learned that there was a huge difference between "Country" and "Government". Nuff said.

 

[Doughknob]

i would have seen more snow for the rest of my days had i been older back then……

 

[Bill Guenthner]

I just want someone to explain what 50k Americans died FOR in Vietnam, where the US Constitution gives the government the right to conscript citizens and force them to fight in another country’s civil war, and why we should ever again trust any president that says to our kids “You need to go and fight and die in a foreign land.”

The US would be a stronger, richer country if those 50k had stayed home, raised children and grandchildren and contributed for 5 or 6 more decades to making this country a better place.

 

[Doofy]

I just want someone to explain what 50k Americans died FOR in Vietnam, where the US Constitution gives the government the right to conscript citizens and force them to fight in another country’s civil war, and why we should ever again trust any president that says to our kids “You need to go and fight and die in a foreign land.”

The US would be a stronger, richer country if those 50k had stayed home, raised children and grandchildren and contributed for 5 or 6 more decades to making this country a better place.

Amen. I believe we are long past trying to be the saviors of the world. We have not done an acceptable job since Vietnam.

 

[Ken45101]

I just want someone to explain what 50k Americans died FOR in Vietnam, where the US Constitution gives the government the right to conscript citizens and force them to fight in another country’s civil war, and why we should ever again trust any president that says to our kids “You need to go and fight and die in a foreign land.”

The US would be a stronger, richer country if those 50k had stayed home, raised children and grandchildren and contributed for 5 or 6 more decades to making this country a better place.

Eisenhower warned about the danger from the "industrial-military complex".

 

[Rebeldad1]

I just want someone to explain what 50k Americans died FOR in Vietnam, where the US Constitution gives the government the right to conscript citizens and force them to fight in another country’s civil war, and why we should ever again trust any president that says to our kids “You need to go and fight and die in a foreign land.”

The US would be a stronger, richer country if those 50k had stayed home, raised children and grandchildren and contributed for 5 or 6 more decades to making this country a better place.

all US citizens too.

Volunteered for the draft. 2 years active sounded better than 3
11 bravo
wouldn't do it again
wouldn't have missed it for the world
back in country had to be escorted out of a airport bar for my safety by the bartender to get away from a group of non welcomers.
For those of us who made it back great benefits (now) thanks to the Iraq war