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

The Draft had already ended by the time I joined in '70(AFRESERVE). I was too young then anyway. I later switched over to regular AF (I'd already told that story)...

Registered one day, enlisted the next. Draft or not, I was going. I wanted to go. Let's do this!!

My lottery number was in the mid-nineties but I knew from the time I was six years old that I would be a soldier and by the time I was eight, I had decided on the Infantry. I tried to understand the Viet Nam war and the great resistance to it by others my age. Being a good bit the idealist, I felt that if our government thought we should be there, then that is how it should be. I felt at the time that those who ran to Canada or protested the war were cowards without honor.
Liberating the oppressed and expanding liberty in the process seemed like a nobel cause.
In December of '68 at the age of 17 I reported for my physical at old Ft. Wayne in Detroit and enlisted on January 18th on the delayed entry program. Following high school graduation the following May of '69 I found myself at Ft. Polk, LA when two weeks into BCT I was called to see the 1st Sgt., who asked my why I was there. (???)
I told him I was "simply a trainee who had been sent there like so many others, why?" He told me I was supposed to be at Ft. Lewis and I could go if I wanted to - I declined. (Never did figure out what that was all about)
The next stop was Tiger Land where I finished my training with C-1-3 and that is when the next adventure began. But that is a story for another day.

I signed my draft registration on Dec 26th, 1978. I was in college. The war was (mostly) done and very few were being drafted. How I ended up in the USMC 5 years later is another story. As for how I felt - I was fearful I would be drafted. I did not want to go kill people. I grew and matured over the years. Still, to this day, I *don't want to* kill people. However, I am prepared to do so. And yes, for me, war is that simple.

Outright laughter, and relief, as I had enlisted in the Navy the day before.

219... in 1971... and enlisted Mar 1973 2 months out of Collage...

Also not drafted, Enlisted in US Navy in 1976 under delayed entry program.
After graduating H.S. in '77 went to boot camp. Best career decision of my life!

I almost lost it. I was thankful I was in a program linking ROTC and the VT ARNG. I gave to notice to my Tact Officer and NCO chain. My SGM eventually took care of it.

I was all for America but would have preferred to wait until I finished college to go to enlist. I wanted to be an officer...I was pissed when I opened the notice. I was having to work full time loading trucks and study and make class and my grades were slipping. I felt like I could have pulled through but the selective service guys gave absolutely zero chance to me to do that. One failed test and 30 days later I got the greetings letter. My parents were pro America also but they left going up to me entirely.

I decided not to wait, and enlisted to make sure I would be on a tank. I enlisted 7 AUG 1964, the war hadn't started. I was a couple of weeks into BCT, when the SDI had one of those "gather round me" formations and informed us of the "Gulf of Tonkin Resulution". He also said that it might be a good idea to really pay attention to the training we were getting.