What were your feelings and thoughts when you first opened your draft notice?

When I got my draft notice I thought "Hot damn, I may get my 20 years in yet." I had been home for about two weeks, job hunting, after being medically surveyed after 15 years and 10 months in the Marine Corps. I took my notice to the draft board and the guy behind the counter and said "Here I am." Helooked at me sort of cross-eyed, I was 31, just shy of 32 years old. He said, "Wait here." He came back after about 5 minutes and said, "You have been classified as 4F or something like that, and he had in his hand my discharge notice. He didn't actually call me a smart ass, but I know he was thinking it. Oh, well, I tried. I'm 84 years old now and I would go back tomorrow. I may have trouble walking, but they have a lot of wheeled vehicles in the Corps that I could ride in and shoot from the window.

My dad(an immigrant) instilled in me that as a citizen and first born generation American it was my duty to serve. I knew that the Vietnam war was going to be my war and could see no choice but to serve. I remember that during a break a bunch of us burned our draft cards as we would not be needing them. The war itself was a different matter. What i saw and experienced was enough to make me realize that the war was unwinnable the way it was being fought so i was glad to make it home. I could not bring myself to protest the war since it just did not seem right as many of my friends were still over there so like many i tried to put it behind me over the next years.

Thank you all for your stories and Welcome Home. I don't say that lightly either. Sounds like many of you were ahead of the game and were planning on going in. My understanding from an acquaintance whose father was a National Guard recruiter back in the 60's was that he recruited a lot of the younger guys who were likely to get drafted. This way they had some initial training. Sure - it wasn't Parris Island or Benning but a lot of the ones that went in - and came back from Nam - thanked his father.

Jenn

I was already in Vietnam when my notice arrived so I thought it pretty funny. I grew up in a very small southern town with values and beliefs founded in the WWII era, the son of a retired soldier. Those things colored my view of the war. To me it was simple - your country is involved in a war, you volunteer, you fight. So that's what I did. I have no regrets all these years later.

Another funny draft story I thought I'd share, when I was stationed in Germany in the 70s we had a guy in my unit whose mother was German and father was a US career soldier. He was in the US Army in Germany when he received his draft notice for the German Bundeswehr; it turned out he had dual citizenship and was in trouble for dodging the German draft. Our battery commander had to jump through a lot of hoops to get him out of that. The guy had to renounce his German citizenship and finished his hitch without a hitch.

I was E3 and eating rice! I was many thousands of miles away from the draft board in Oakland so I skipped it.

My Dad received his draft notice while he was in Vietnam. He took it to his First Shirt and said I have to go home, I've been drafted. He said the Sgt. tore it in half and said let them find ya.

I was a new 2nd Lt at the Basic School at Quantico when they ran the lottery. Later, while in Vietnam, my father forwarded to me a "Final Notice" from my draft board, in which they were threatening to issue a warrant for my arrest. I wrote back telling them I would gladly surrender to the US Marshal if they could find one willing to come to Vietnam to get me. Never heard from them again.

My number was #3 so after graduating from HS I wanted to be a mechanic and my dad was RETIRED Navy so I went down to the Navy recruiter and was lucky he was a Chief in the Seabees and helped me get into the Bees in 71. RETIRED in 97 as a Seabee, can't believe that I'v e been out for 20 yrs

I was not drafted, I was draft exempt because my father passed away when my younger sister was just a child and I was the sole support of the family. So, I joined the Marine Corps in Jan, 1968 when I was 18 years old and got out 3 years later. Great experience, Semper Fi!!!!