Going to The University of North Carolina and The 1972 Vietnam War Draft Lottery
By February 2, 1972 I was into the routine of being a 2nd semester beginner at the University of North Carolina. That particular Wednesday was no different than any other day. I got up, poured, dressed and headed out to classes, which started at eight that morning. It was cold and stormy but there was nothing differently to indicate this day would be any different than any other day. thailotto
That autumn when I got back to Graham Dorm the first thing I noticed was everyone standing around in the halls talking. As soon as I walked in a couple of my musketeers came over and asked me,” Have they drawn your number yet?“I remember replying,” Number, what number?“When I was at UNC we didn't have TV sets in our apartments and I infrequently hear to the radio, except for music, so I had veritably little information and no idea what was going on in the world. Lonnie, my coming door neighbor, laugh and replied,“Your draft number you big DA. They're drawing the draft figures now.” The Vietnam War was in full swing and one of the solemnities of passage every joker had to do when they turned 18 times old was to register with the Selective Service Board and be available to be drafted into military service if demanded. In 1969 the system of selection was change to a lottery delineation and the first was held on December 1, 1969.
In a large glass vessel 365 (366 in a vault time) blue capsules, each containing a birth date, were mixed up and aimlessly drawn by hand and assigned an” order-of- call” number. The first date drawn was assigned the number one and so on until all 365 number and dates were matched. The lottery delineation held on February 2, 1972 was for all men born in the time 1953 and would be used to determine the order they would be called to report to a military induction center during the time of 1973. The first date drawn that time was March 6 and it was assigned the number one. The alternate date was March 7 and the third date was August 3.
The entire lottery was covered by radio, film, and had Television content. As each capsule was pulled and opened, the dates were posted in order. It was a long slow process nearly covered by the media and political officers to ensure it was completely arbitrary. The lower your number the more likely you were to be drafted. The call-up during the former lottery times had reached between 95 and 195. If you had a low number you would soon be wading in rice paddies in Vietnam.
Once I heard the lottery was taking place fear set in and all I could see was my big butt standing waste deep in a rice paddy being shot at. There was noway a study about not going and running to Canada as some did, I knew if my number was low I would serve. As I calmed down I remembered my plan. By 1972 there were no detainments for council scholars so if I had a low number I would withdraw from academy and matriculate in either the Navy or the Air Force. I was determined I wasn't going to trudge around the jungle. Lonnie said they were posting the figures, as they were called out over the radio, on a big board that was set up in the Student Union structure. I tried to walk down and remain cool and calm but I plant myself running as presto as I could to the Student Union. All I could suppose about was the worst possible scripts.
Once I got to the Student Union I saw they had one wall set up as a matrix with the months across the top and the days of the month down the side. In each corresponding block they had written in the draft number for that date. By the time I got there the lottery was over and all the blocks were filled in. I was so nervous at first I couldn't find my birth date and its corresponding square. Eventually I located it and cried with joy, April 24th had drawn the number 362. By my computations before the time the government called my number the ICBMs would have landed and all of us would be dancing on thoroughfares of gold in Heaven.
For a lot of us, and luckily all of my musketeers, that night turned into a party. We were over all night drinking and celebrating. For others it wasn't a night to party. Over the coming several weeks we learned that several of our dorm mates had withdrawn from academy and enlisted. According to the History and Records of the Selective Service System the last lottery delineation was held on March 12, 1975. The last draft call was on December 7, 1972 therefore none of the figures drawn on February 2, 1972 were actually called up.
This too was part of growing up in Sunup, NC.