Vietnam War Draft Lottery
On December 1, 1969, after years of conflict in Vietnam, the United States issued its first draft lottery since World War 2. Every male citizen between the ages of 18 and 26 was entered into a lottery. Live, on national television, these men were randomly assigned a lottery number from 1 to 366, based on their birthday. This number determined the order in which they would be called for service. Men were drafted from each group, starting with group 1, until the recruitment quota was met. Those with high lottery numbers were unlikely to be drafted. Those with small numbers were almost guaranteed to be. A new draft lottery was performed once every year, with the last person to be drafted on June 30, 1973.
Would you have been drafted? What was your lottery number? When was it assigned? Enter your birthday below to determine your fate.
Vietnam War Draft
Lottery System
Each day of the year was written on a separate slip of paper, placed into a blue capsule, and mixed in a container. The first date drawn was September 14. All men born on this date between 1944 and 1950 were assigned lottery number 1. This process was repeated until all 366 days were assigned a lottery number.
Draft Issues
Around 27 million men were eligible for the draft between 1964 and 1973. Around 2 million would be drafted and inducted into the military during this period. 650,000 of these draftees would be sent to Vietnam and serve in-country, accounting for around 25% of the total in-country American forces.
The lottery system was created in response to rising concerns around the fairness of the original conscription system. Although this new lottery system was designed to be random, many criticize the fact that birthdays towards the end of the year were more likely to be chosen first. Efforts were made after the first lottery in an attempt to more effectively randomize the selection.
Draft Statistics
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