A need for more manpower upon america's deeper involvement in the vietnam war
1965 made president johnson bring in conscription now young men who are not considering military
service would consider whether they might get picked to fight in the vietnam conflict
across the globe
while two-thirds of americans volunteered during the vietnam war the other third would be drafted all males aged
18 to 26 were required to register for the draft the names of american men of draft age were recorded by the selective service system
when called out by the local draft board which was often composed of veterans he would be
Evaluated on whether he would be drafted in the military or not the local board's decisions were often seen as unfair
most of the men chosen were from poor and working-class backgrounds people of color and people from rural towns and farming communities
draft boards would frequently defer middle class men who they would see as having valuable futures and the upper classes were barely drafted at all
there were many ways in which draftees could be deferred or exempt from the draft
For example men who were medically unfit men who were married with children for students at college
Men who had held college deferments were eligible for induction until age 35 but as
few men between the ages of 26 and 35 were ever drafted they could maintain a college deferment until they're 26
birthday and avoid service altogether
some draft resisters could be put in jail for refusing to fight in the war
They broke the law by escaping the draft by refusing to turn up to the local board or fleeing to canada
Those who are opposed to the draft became known as draft dodgers
When the war started they were seen as cowards but as the war dragged on in opposition to the draft grew public attitude was more
sympathetic the draft process changed in late 1969 to make it fairer as a result of a public discontent a
draft lottery was created for
366 blue plastic capsules each containing a birthdate in the year were dumped into a large glass container
The capsules were then drawn out open and announced one by one nervously watched on national television by young men born from
1944 to 1950 the first state announced was september 14 so all registrants with that birthday were assigned lottery number one
men with lower numbers were called first and had to report
to induction centers where they could be sent to the vietnam war the fourth and final lottery drawing was held on february 2nd
1972 and those announced who would have been called to induction in
1973 however president nixon shifted to an all-volunteer force ending the draft in the vietnam war
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