In the current lottery setup, 14 ping pong balls are placed in a lottery machine and four are drawn out at a time. There are 1,001 possible combinations of the four balls (regardless of order), and 1,000 of those combinations are assigned to the 14 teams.
The capsules were drawn by hand, opened one by one, and then assigned to a sequence from 1 until 366. The first date drawn was September 14, followed by April 24, which was assigned to “001” and “002” respectively. The process continued until each day of the year was assigned to a lottery number.
A lottery drawing – the first since 1942 – was 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.
Educational Deferments: Many young men enrolled in college or graduate programs, which often granted them deferments from the draft until they completed their studies. Medical Exemptions: Some sought medical exemptions by claiming physical or psychological conditions that would disqualify them from service.
A Brief History of the Vietnam Draft. In the early 1960s, nearly all 18 to 26-year-old male U.S. citizens and most noncitizens living were required to register for the draft. Following registration, the U.S. Selective Service (SS) classified registrants as available for service, deferred, or ineligible for service.
Between 1964 and 1973, the United States drafted 2.2 million American men into military service. 25% of military forces in combat zones were draftees.
Myth: Common belief is that most Vietnam veterans were drafted. Fact: 2/3 of the men who served in Vietnam were volunteers. 2/3 of the men who served in World War II were drafted. Approximately 70% of those killed in Vietnam were volunteers.
All men of draft age (born January 1, 1944, to December 31, 1950) who shared a birthday would be called to serve at once. The first 195 birthdays drawn were later called to serve in the order they were drawn; the last of these was September 24.
Because the Vietnam War was primarily a ground war, 82 percent of American servicemen who fought in Vietnam were members of the Army and the Marines, and two-thirds of those soldiers were drafted.
Acute or organic diseases of the brain or spinal cord; of the heart or lungs; of the liver or spleen; of the kidneys or bladder, which have so seriously impaired his general health as to leave no doubt of the man's incapacity for military service.