General Discussion

INdemo

(7,024 posts)

50. It was about May 1965 and one yer earlier I had decided to join the Navy while

Mon Feb 20, 2012, 10:24 PM

Feb 2012

I was in high school ,knowing the only way for me to attend college was with the GI bill...I held off as long as I could while my friends were recieving their draft papers on a daily basis,I picked up our local paper one evening and read that LBJ had double the number of the fighting force....Two days later I enlisted and 2 short months after boot camp I was on a ship off the coast of Vietnam..
At first I really felt we were there for a purpose....One day I picked up the stars and stripes news and in the casualty list were the names of two of my childhood friends..The one friend I had talked to the evening before I went to the recruiters office trying to persuade him to join with me..he decided to wait it out and hope he didnt get the brown envelope...
Oh..incidentally I was in boot camp for two weeks and a letter from home informed me I had gotten my draft papers...

Edit history

Please sign in to view edit histories.

Recommendations

0 members have recommended this reply (displayed in chronological order):

123 replies

= new reply since forum marked as read

Highlight:

Is there anyone on DU-3 who lived through Vietnam War Era..whose life was changed by the DraftWar? [View all] KoKo Feb 2012 OP

I was there. I got the last draft number. It was too low to go and they never called me. Vincardog Feb 2012 #1

I worked on a military base that soldiers came through for courses they took. I even dated a southernyankeebelle Feb 2012 #8

I totally agreed w/ your FIL jaysunb Feb 2012 #11

Your point is well taken. It really did have an impact on people. I think the younger guys really southernyankeebelle Feb 2012 #15

I probably should have added that jaysunb Feb 2012 #22

Wow, I am sorry for your lose. Many good young men come back left with deep scars of emotions. southernyankeebelle Feb 2012 #26

No one ever spat in any soldier's face (at least as can be coalition_unwilling Feb 2012 #68

The media lost respect long ago. southernyankeebelle Feb 2012 #90

I was among the last drafted in '72. My number was 23 (bd 6/26) SteveG Feb 2012 #21

The "dirty hippies" were a small percentage of the people who protested the war... rfranklin Feb 2012 #2

Lost Interest....When exactly did Kent State and Jackson State events occur? Bandit Feb 2012 #85

Kent State was May 4, 1970 and Jackson State was May 14, 1970 rfranklin Feb 2012 #92

My husband and I lived through that time; we were young then. CaliforniaPeggy Feb 2012 #3

I hope you can convince your brother to post here (if he does not do so already). Failing coalition_unwilling Feb 2012 #69

Alas, my brother would never post here: he's the sole Republican in our family. CaliforniaPeggy Feb 2012 #94

1965-1975 were an unbelievably intense period of time. Warren Stupidity Feb 2012 #4

This is pretty much the way I remember it too. annabanana Feb 2012 #52

+1 ....that's my take on "Communes" morphed into today's "Communities for Sustainable Living." KoKo Feb 2012 #111

I lived through it, both as a war protestor, and the spouse of a vietnam vet. one of the things niyad Feb 2012 #5

Well, it led to my career. trof Feb 2012 #6

Did you meet George Bush? HubertHeaver Feb 2012 #60

HA! Nope. trof Feb 2012 #83

Damn! Still no eyewittness he was in Alabama. HubertHeaver Feb 2012 #118

Never was and never will be. trof Feb 2012 #121

on the crux-- I turned 18 in '73, a high school dropout with a LOW lottery number.... mike_c Feb 2012 #7

Minor quibble but Watergate would never have occurred without Vietnam, a point made coalition_unwilling Feb 2012 #70

A very significant change in my family's lives HeiressofBickworth Feb 2012 #9

When I was 8-11, the nightly news reported on our dead soldiers daily. DCKit Feb 2012 #10

Um, minor quibble, but I think the number of U.S. combat fatalities was coalition_unwilling Feb 2012 #71

The total U.S. military fatalities in the war is now 58,272 pinboy3niner Feb 2012 #80

And even sadder, more than that have taken their own lives after they got home. AnotherDreamWeaver Feb 2012 #113

Having lived through it, I would say that everyone living at that time who was of draft age, or enough Feb 2012 #12

How could a 10-year war not affect everyone in America?? Major Hogwash Feb 2012 #13

I ducked the war with an academic deferment like that bastard Newt Gingrich. dimbear Feb 2012 #14

Willie was the ultimate chickenhawk. WhoIsNumberNone Feb 2012 #23

Romney believe that saving vietnam from communism was worth dying for, but flexnor Feb 2012 #29

He believed it was worth dying for- WhoIsNumberNone Feb 2012 #43

As long as the person doing the dying was a Sp*c, a coalition_unwilling Feb 2012 #73

Like Cheney, Romney simply had "other priorities". Those coalition_unwilling Feb 2012 #72

Willard Rmoney's attire shows why he NEVER was in tune with the people. Bozita Feb 2012 #49

his attire wasnt out of step for 1966, when the picture was taken flexnor Feb 2012 #63

This message was self-deleted by its author onenote Feb 2012 #103

Breathtaking change of culture from 1965 to 1968 flexnor Feb 2012 #16

Thanks for your post...It was what I was asking about. You are Not Vietnam..but a little Younger... KoKo Feb 2012 #38

My experience was similar to flexnor's Art_from_Ark Feb 2012 #53

Funny, what you said about Nixon is somewhat true of W, raccoon Feb 2012 #88

Bush was no Nixon, although his dad was Nixon's ambassador flexnor Feb 2012 #93

Well said. AnotherMcIntosh Feb 2012 #98

Only 16 in '73, but dad and I had some heated arguments over Vietnam,, benld74 Feb 2012 #17

born in 1956 - remember it as a horrible/stressful time. My parents were ready to ship me to Canada NRaleighLiberal Feb 2012 #18

I was born that same year Mojorabbit Feb 2012 #41

I was A1 for two years and I was determined not to go even if I had to leave the country. Sancho Feb 2012 #19

Wow, that is a hell of an anecdote and proof that casualties coalition_unwilling Feb 2012 #74

first lottery 1969...my number was 111. spanone Feb 2012 #20

9/14 WAS THE FIRST DRAWN NUMBER..MY BIRTHDAY... angstlessk Feb 2012 #24

Here is how I know... angstlessk Feb 2012 #28

My boyfriend came back a junkie..... glinda Feb 2012 #25

There is experience and there is experience malaise Feb 2012 #27

That is one hell of an anecdote and proof positive that coalition_unwilling Feb 2012 #75

It messed me up malaise Feb 2012 #77

I served in Vietnam; it affected my life profoundly pinboy3niner Feb 2012 #30

thank you for your service flexnor Feb 2012 #31

You undoubtedly mean well. AnotherMcIntosh Feb 2012 #40

I hope the sign I carried.... moriah Feb 2012 #48

Thanks..I know what you say... It goes both ways these wars... n/t KoKo Feb 2012 #58

The stories of "hippies spitting on returning vets" Lydia Leftcoast Feb 2012 #55

Thankyou pinboy3niner Feb 2012 #99

Were you there pre- or post-Tet '68? coalition_unwilling Feb 2012 #76

After Tet pinboy3niner Feb 2012 #81

My Cousin served in the 101st Airborne. AnotherDreamWeaver Feb 2012 #114

Draft number 15. So I enlisted in the Air Force slater71 Feb 2012 #32

I was in the Marine Corps donco Feb 2012 #33

As a result of the Viet Nam War, I became a full-fledged liberal and I'm never going back. AnotherMcIntosh Feb 2012 #34

The PBS documentary "Vietnam" (based on Stanley Karnow's coalition_unwilling Feb 2012 #79

Notwithstanding the inter-service rivalries, there are some cultural differences AnotherMcIntosh Feb 2012 #97

Of course, one would have to have been dead to not have been effected by that debacle... Alameda Feb 2012 #35

There was a huge shift in families-some survived, some not. Its never been documented. And should be MichiganVote Feb 2012 #36

Agree...there's never been a movie that showed how it affected the families and what it did to KoKo Feb 2012 #59

My husband had a low number so he was told if they signed up marlakay Feb 2012 #37

I wasn't born yet, but my mother was... and her views influenced mine. moriah Feb 2012 #39

So many heartfelt posts about their experience...I'm still reading.. KoKo Feb 2012 #42

Some of the vets that post in the veterans group have responded here, denbot Feb 2012 #45

I'll second that pinboy3niner Feb 2012 #101

In 1969 I was 19, 1-A and my number in the lottery was 98. hobbit709 Feb 2012 #44

I can't even describe the effect it had on me and my friends graywarrior Feb 2012 #46

I was young and stupid. I joined the Navy before they started the lottery. Stinky The Clown Feb 2012 #47

It was about May 1965 and one yer earlier I had decided to join the Navy while INdemo Feb 2012 #50

Huh?!1 Well, *yeah* my and everybody's life was impacted UTUSN Feb 2012 #51

Yes. lonestarnot Feb 2012 #54

Drafted in June of 1970, number was 181... aka-chmeee Feb 2012 #56

It was the beginning of the end of my family's conservatism Lydia Leftcoast Feb 2012 #57

I don't know his entire story but my brother in law's life was changed csziggy Feb 2012 #61

Mr. Tikki was drafted... Tikki Feb 2012 #62

When I was in college (1968-1972) ... frazzled Feb 2012 #64

My brother went to the Nan. My husband s-cubed Feb 2012 #65

65 replies and 800 views, I show up late AnotherDreamWeaver Feb 2012 #66

Drafted during Vietnam. Elwood P Dowd Feb 2012 #67

Born in 1949, Golden Raisin Feb 2012 #78

"It is impossible today to describe the influence and ominous omnipresence of �the draft� to those raccoon Feb 2012 #89

The last things you say: AnotherDreamWeaver Feb 2012 #117

The War was a central fact that was up front every day! Are_grits_groceries Feb 2012 #82

There are things I will never forget newblewtoo Feb 2012 #84

It defined everything we did. grantcart Feb 2012 #86

I don't see how anyone who lived through Vietnam War Era, could say their life was not changed raccoon Feb 2012 #87

+1 onenote Feb 2012 #102

Whole family affected Mad-in-Mo Feb 2012 #91

Many years after the war, my then-wife insisted she'd been unaffected by it pinboy3niner Feb 2012 #95

Technically, I was a draft dodger malthaussen Feb 2012 #96

When they asked me to extend my enlistment to kill people for LBJ, I told them to fuck off. Tierra_y_Libertad Feb 2012 #100

Born in '53. Lottery number in mid-40s. Called for physical. Avoided physical. Got CO deferment. onenote Feb 2012 #104

You might find this study interesting. onenote Feb 2012 #105

My dad served in the early years of Viet Nam (mid 60s) - TBF Feb 2012 #106

That's one of the consequences that's not talked about much in wars... KoKo Feb 2012 #109

I flew 250+ air combat missions in Viet Nam, Laos, and Cambodia. DemoTex Feb 2012 #107

Great to see you back, Mac pinboy3niner Feb 2012 #108

From what I've read from you we are almost same age... KoKo Feb 2012 #110

My brother was drafted and died there Autumn Feb 2012 #112

Sorry to hear about your loss. It must have been extremely traumatic for you. grantcart Feb 2012 #115

I was born just in time to get my dad a deferral varelse Feb 2012 #116

I never got the sense from any documentary about Vietnam that it was not a mistake. Jennicut Feb 2012 #119

....1 KoKo Feb 2012 #120

I watched it on TV and wondered why the country south of me had gone insane TrogL Feb 2012 #122

You mean Southern USA....they've always been that way... KoKo Mar 2012 #123