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

Never received it. I enlisted RA and the rest is a career.

I got divorced at the age of twenty-four and my draft classification went from 3-A to 1-A. After passing the draft physical and checking on my draft status with the draft board, I enlisted in the Army. In 1969 they were drafting people into the Marine Corps and I had no interest in being a Draftee at Paris Island. I retired as a First Sergeant from the Army Reserve in 1999.

My draft # was like 326, so no draft notice expected, unlike one of my friends was #2. I had free sailing ahead.... But then, a couple yrs later I took a Rotc scholarship for college, four yrs active while everything was downsizing, combat tour in 2004, and then retired out with 38 yrs in Reserves/NG.

I never had one, sir. I joined at 17 but the Draft was over. All we had to do was register (and already being "in Boots" I did not have to do that).

However, of those that were friends and family. Most seemed to feel that military service may be then end of their life. By this I mean, that they felt they would not come home the same if at all. Some did come home, some came home much different, some came home and well they went down hill, and some did not come home alive. So .. maybe they were correct.

Well I'm a Vietnam Era Soldier but never received a draft notice, (1974), but I had friends that did and it was tough. America was different then and no one could give you a clear idea of what the war was about and Walter Cronkite gave his opinion every night with dramatic photographs.

I like most viet nam ere and incountry were not draftees we volunteered a lot volunteered for the draft because it came with a two year ad obligation and RA came with a 4 year obligation.

I knew that I would serve in the military at some point long before I received my draft notice. Since I was 1-A with a 63 lottery number, I could be called up if something were to happen somewhere in the world requiring building up the military. I did want to enter the service with some options on what specialty I would be assigned and decided to continue my education before entering the military.

The draft in the United States never operated on a level playing field. Individuals who could not afford to pay for post secondary education, the poor and minorities tended to be drafted at higher rates than individuals who could afford to enroll in colleges and Universities or had family members with political connections.

During the Vietnam era the age of the average draftee is reported to have been 19 years of age, while the average age of the WWII draftee was reported to have been 26. I suspect that 18 and 19 year olds might be at higher risk of any number of unfortunate outcomes when in harms way during military operations and any number of non-military activities than slightly older individuals who have realized that they are not bullet proof.

I also think that in a democracy that purports to embrace the principles of equal rights, that all healthy persons of any gender should be included in any draft or other requirement to provide some sort of national service.

As an Army “Brat”, I suppose I always figured that I would serve in some capacity early on. My dad served during the Korean War, 1950-1953. One of my earliest memories was the excitement my mom had when my dad came home in his uniform. I remember the “angst” in the early Cold War days. At around age 3 or 4, I remember saying to someone (presumably my mom) that I would hide in the trunk of the car if dad went off to war..... Later, I lived in post WWII Germany where I was in Grade 1-3. I watched the Hawk missles shoot down the aircraft at White Sands during the Armed Forces family days. I endured the year my dad went back to Korea when I was 12/13. I graduated HS in China. I wrote this to put a context to what follows:

I worked with a number of great folks who were drafted. They were aviation, not grunts. I’d heard stories, but I never experienced identifyable problems with draftees vs anyone else. I was never drafted. I did register, but my time was before the lottery. Didn’t matter anyway. My S/N was RA68076284 as I volunteered for service out of High School. Unfortunately, Vietnam happened to be during my time. Didn’t matter. I was working under a different set of principles. When my dad brought home an Aviation Digest in July 1967, I knew what I wanted to shoot for. I mentioned it in my Senior yearbook, and it became reality.

Never got a draft notice as io joined teh Navy prior to my 18th birthday.

Received mine the day I raised my hand to join the AF in 1970...phoned back home that night to let family know all was okay. Told my wife to take the letter to the recruiter and let him handle it...have no idea what happened from there.