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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
The various exemptions which draft-eligible men could use to avoid service, such as still being in university education or being medically unfit, were thought to allow better-connected and middle class men to evade the draft more easily than working class or minority men.
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.
~ The largest age group, 33,103 were 18 years old. 12 soldiers on the Wall were 17 years old. ~ 5 soldiers on the Wall were 16 years old.