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

I enlisted, basic, washed out at WOC school, trained at Ft Sill, stayed on as an instructor, went to shake and bake. Finally 1week leave then Nam. While home on leave got my notice. Ha ha went down to the draft board office the next day in uniform and politely told them what the could do with it. They did not smile but I did. I was born into the army, the Col. Good me I had to go to college before I could enlist. That is the only order I have ever directly dis-obeyed.

It was 1958, I was in Lebanon with the 3/6 marines, I was a g/sgt, I went to my C O and tone him I needed to go back to the States, he asked why, I said I have just been drafted. Both he and his Adj couldn’t stop laughing.

Brother is 2 years younger but we ended up in the same draft lottery. He called me in Ft Benning at jump school to tell me my number. 320 something. I asked his and he calmly, sadly stated that it was exactly 300 lower. but he got basic in California and shipped to Hawaii where he played in the band.

My thought was maybe I can go and reclaim my life from limbo, after waiting until I was 22 and trying to establish myself in a career and unable to make many long term commitments because it hung over my head. My second thought was shit, there goes my new '65 Mustang convertible that I can't finish paying for. My third was where is the USAF recruiter. I was half way through USAF basic training when the Army came looking for me at my parents' house and my former residence.

Oh, shit!!

Draft notice reaction = S..t
stance on war = find a way not to go. No luck, I went , news on Radio stated Bien Hoa Vietnam was under attack. Really rather not go there.

Hello
I beat them to the punch I joined I did not want to be a cook/LOL

LOL mine came While I was in boot camp. About 3 days after my 18th birthday. I called them the next day and stated they were a day late and a dollar short. I was in Navy boot.

A few days before I enlisted in the Air Force in 1965 the tech Sgt sent me to the Selective Service office. I'd already had a Preinduction Physical and he needed the paperwork from that and some other papers. It was only a few blocks away from the recruiters office. When I arrived there I told the lady at the front desk why I there. So she went over to this wall that was covered with filing cabinets and she looked for my papers. She looked for several minutes then went and asked others if they knew where they were . Three of the ladies that worked there looked for at least 45 minutes. Then another lady apparantly had just returned to work. Asked what they were looking for. They told her they couldn't find my folder. She said I have that right here. Apparently the last thing she did before leaving was type up my Draft Notice. They gave me my Draft notice along with the other papers.

I got my draft notice feb. 1966 (I was 23 at the time). I was working on the control system for the fire support system for the f-4 (some one forgot to put 50's on the bird).