Experiencing the military draft

On January 27, 1973, our military draft system ended in favor of voluntary enlistment. The Vietnam War was essentially over and there proved no further need to pluck young able-bodied men from their homes to replenish the ranks of the military. So, odds are, if you are under the age of 60 you probably never had to sweat out the daily mail delivery to see if Uncle Sam finally was calling your number!

Let me transport you back to a time when the military draft was alive and well. When I turned 18 on March 6, 1967 I was mandated by law to register with the Selective Service System thus making me eligible to be drafted into military service. For most young studs, turning 18 was not a cause for celebration during those dark days. In fact it created a heightened level of stress far beyond any petty high school tribulations. Turning 18 meant it was now a distinct possibility that you could be drafted, sent to Vietnam and killed.

Along with the draft came innovative ways to dodge the beast. Many young men fled to Canada where they could avoid military service. Less drastic measures included attending college and getting good grades, getting married and having kids or faking injury or illness thus receiving a 4-F designation–unfit for military service. None of these proved foolproof, however. If you were determined and willing to buck the system, odds were you could avoid service, although always looming were the unintended consequences. Those choosing to flee to Canada received a huge break from President Jimmy Carter on his first day in office, January 21, 1977.

President Carter fulfilled a campaign promise by granting unconditional pardons to hundreds of thousands of men who had evaded the draft during the Vietnam War by fleeing the country or by failing to register. Gerald Ford, Carter’s predecessor in the White House, offered conditional amnesty to some draft dodgers. Carter, however, seeking to heal the war’s physic wounds set no conditions, although some individuals were excluded from the blanket pardon. Thus, military deserters were ineligible. Also excluded were convicted civilian protestors who had engaged in acts of violence. All in all, about 100,000 Americans went abroad in the late 1960s and early 70s to avoid being called up. Some 90 percent went to Canada where, after some initial controversy, they were accepted as legal immigrants. Thousands of others went into hiding within the country, sometimes changing their identities. In addition, about 1,000 military deserters found their way to Canada. While Canadian authorities at first indicated they would be prosecuted or deported, in practice they were left alone. Canadian border guards were told not to ask too many questions. For its part, the U.S. government continued to prosecute draft evaders after the Vietnam War ended. A total of 209,517 men were accused of violating draft laws, while another 360,000 were never formally charged. Those who had fled to Canada faced prison sentences if they chose to return home. In the end, an estimated 50,000 draft dodgers settled permanently in Canada. As Canadian citizens, some of them have entered the political scene from the left. The Carter amnesty generated a good deal of criticism, especially from veterans groups.

Of course, any young man living during those turbulent times will also remember the first draft lottery drawing held on December 1, 1969, at Selective Service National Headquarters in Washington, D.C. This event determined the order of call for induction during calendar year 1970; that is, for registrants born between January 1, 1944, and December 31, 1950. Reinstitution of the lottery was a change from the “draft the oldest man first” method, which had been the determining method for deciding order of call. There were 366 blue plastic capsules containing birth dates placed in a large glass container and drawn by hand to assign order-of-call numbers to all men within the 18-26 age range specified in Selective Service law. With radio, film and TV coverage, the capsules were drawn from the container, opened, and the dates inside posted in order. The first capsule, drawn by Congressman Alexander Pirnie (R-NY) of the House Armed Services Committee, contained the date September 14, so all men born on September 14 in any year between 1944 and 1950 were assigned lottery number 1. The drawing continued until all days of the year had been paired with sequence numbers.

Although I was already in Vietnam, many of my younger buddies sat nervously at home watching the riveting broadcast. It is my fervent hope that never again do we, as a nation, find it necessary to reinstitute the military draft.