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

I registered for the draft in October of my senior year of high school at a Virginia military school. Several months later, I signed a contract and enlisted the Army Inactive Reserves as E-2 while enrolled in a four-year Army ROTC Scholarship program. Then, I received my draft number- 327. I knew my number would probably never be drawn. I knew I was exempt because I was going to college full-time and I was in ROTC.

We cadets at The Citadel knew we would receive the diploma, the commission, and orders to report to the first duty station before going to "Nam". The Citadel blue risers of the stairs had the names of fallen cadets stencilled on them, a stark reminder of our future. The C5A transport jets flew into CAFB as part of their supply mission- often carrying the coffins of those KIA.
Cadets identified with the Wylie, the silly coyote in the Roadrunner cartoons. We thought Acme (the five-sided supply house near the swamp) could provide us with all sorts of whiz-bang technology but the damn bird was going to be allowed to win at our expense.
My father asked me why I applied for the scholarship knowing I volunteered to be placed in harm's way. Like so many young men during WWII, he rushed down to enlist and came home from the Pacific theater on a hospital ship and left active service with a 65% disability. I told him I was doing exactly what he had done in his youth. He responded saying he thought I had more sense than he had at the same age. As a result, I never spoke of my time in the army. I never wore my uniform at home once I left The Citadel. I buried my sorrows at the same time.
In my mind, I understood why we were there. The US and its allies were willing to invest billions to hasten the defeat of communism. A free market could bare the enormous costs to prosecute a war but a controlled economy could not do the same. The Soviet Union took money from its citizens and spent it to support North Vietnam then moved into Afghanistan. Their economy failed as their leadership realized the investment the US was willing to make in the backwater nation of Vietnam. That curtailed their plans to spread in Europe via force. We know that know because old USSR files have been released into the public records.

I am the eldest of 10 siblings. My Father ( WW11 100% , Service connected , disabled VET.) Had my Draft notice in hand, the day i was to depart.! He lined up my Brothers and sisters, ..and instructed each of them, to Give Me a Big Hug,...Because..they May Never See Me Again.!! Med-Evac Helicopter Crewchief,..( did the very best i could,) and i came home.!

The notice arrived in Jan 1966. I was stunned, but I got over it quickly.
I was in boot camp 3 weeks later.

Received my draft notice while in fighting in the Bin Dinh region of Vietnam. 1st of the 9th AirCav 1967-1968. At the time needed something to laugh at. And, all these years I thought I was the only one that this happened too. FUBAR

Wonder if I could have gotten a better assignment if I had left Vietnam to report to the draft broad?

Never recieved a draft notice. I was in Paris Island when I turned 18. Funny the DI's never even whished me a happy Birthday.

I am reposting this because I cannot find my original post.
I am writing this response for my father, Ronald Hollis who passed in 2013. He told me the story of when he opened his draft notice. He was attending Joliet Junior College and when he opened and began to read the letter he began to laugh because it started out with "Congratulations" you have been selected ..., followed by information on what to do from there. He said the wording seemed very ironic since it read as though he had won a prize or was receiving an award or had been accepted for something he applied for. He went on to serve his draft time in the Army as an APC driver, but never left US soil. I on the other hand being female never had to register for Selective Service, but I was the one who served overseas during Desert Storm. So in some ways that letter was very ironic as my father never left the states and he ended up sending his only child, a daughter, to fight in a foreign war on foreign soil.

He saw serving in the Army as his duty and tried to stay out of the politics of it all. Of course his mother had other ideas about all wars in general since it was her generation who sent their men off to fight in WWII. My father's father served overseas and his stepfather lost his right leg above the knee from a land mine on his first day out in WWII, so he never talked about it much at all. Both my father and his father always viewed it as their duty and stayed out of the politics.

My dad later used his GI Bill to get a Master's degree in Secondary Education specializing in History, Special Education and Physical Education. He spent most of his career teaching Special Education and History, so he instilled in me a love for history and how to use it to learn from and use the knowledge to avoid old mistakes and to make the world a better place.

Somewhere along the line what I learned from listening to my dad and grandfather and their stories of duty and dedication I just knew that I would serve in the military. I have learned to read through the political lines from them and weigh the pros and cons, and am proud of my service as they were of theirs. I took my GI Bill and became a nurse and have continued to serve members of my community as a nurse and as a nurse educator, which a large number of my clients and students have been and continue to be fellow Veterans.

To be honest, a bit dismayed. After nearly two years as a firefighter with the FDNY and many exchanges between the Department and the Draft Board, guess who won out? December 7, 1965, I was drafted into the US Army for the two-year hitch. Did boot camp in Fort Gordon, GA and a tour in France and Germany. Came out a SGT E-5. Finished up after 34 years and 10 months in the USCGR as a MCPO.

Being enrolled in ROTC I never received a draft notice while in college. After graduation and commissioning, I tried to delay my active duty by enrolling in grad school, then drop the classes. So while not drafted, I did receive a surprise when I returned from my honeymoon and found active duty orders in my mailbox. This was in 1966 and I was supportive of the war, seeing it as our giving support to a small nation being subverted by communism, but I didn't particularly want to be a part of the war. I did serve in Vietnam from 1970-71 and thought that the U.S.'s half hearted strategy, i.e., trying not to lose but not seriously trying to win, was dumb and wasteful. I cannot justify in my own mind the deaths of over 58,000 good Americans in that ill planned effort.

I was just back from a patrol when the mail on my bunk included my draft notice. I had already been in the Navy for four years, and in Viet Nam for one. I sent them back a letter saying "If you want me, come and get me."

I was pretty much expecting it. That seemed to be a common occurrence for those of us that had had deferments. I had already talked to the Air Force shortly after I graduated from high school, so I went back to my recruiter and signed up. It wasn't anywhere near as exciting as many of the previous commenters. I entered the AF in June of 1967.