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annabanana

(52,791 posts)
52. This is pretty much the way I remember it too.
Mon Feb 20, 2012, 10:39 PM
Feb 2012

Of course I was never in danger of being drafted, and my kid brother had a metal pin in him from an auto accident that kept him out. There were HS classmates of mine who went. Two died and a few came back damaged in the way described upthread.

I was at NYU in the Village from 67-72 and it was . . well, words will never capture the feeling.

I was there. I got the last draft number. It was too low to go and they never called me. Vincardog Feb 2012 #1
I worked on a military base that soldiers came through for courses they took. I even dated a southernyankeebelle Feb 2012 #8
I totally agreed w/ your FIL jaysunb Feb 2012 #11
Your point is well taken. It really did have an impact on people. I think the younger guys really southernyankeebelle Feb 2012 #15
I probably should have added that jaysunb Feb 2012 #22
Wow, I am sorry for your lose. Many good young men come back left with deep scars of emotions. southernyankeebelle Feb 2012 #26
No one ever spat in any soldier's face (at least as can be coalition_unwilling Feb 2012 #68
The media lost respect long ago. southernyankeebelle Feb 2012 #90
I was among the last drafted in '72. My number was 23 (bd 6/26) SteveG Feb 2012 #21
The "dirty hippies" were a small percentage of the people who protested the war... rfranklin Feb 2012 #2
Lost Interest....When exactly did Kent State and Jackson State events occur? Bandit Feb 2012 #85
Kent State was May 4, 1970 and Jackson State was May 14, 1970 rfranklin Feb 2012 #92
My husband and I lived through that time; we were young then. CaliforniaPeggy Feb 2012 #3
I hope you can convince your brother to post here (if he does not do so already). Failing coalition_unwilling Feb 2012 #69
Alas, my brother would never post here: he's the sole Republican in our family. CaliforniaPeggy Feb 2012 #94
1965-1975 were an unbelievably intense period of time. Warren Stupidity Feb 2012 #4
This is pretty much the way I remember it too. annabanana Feb 2012 #52
+1 ....that's my take on "Communes" morphed into today's "Communities for Sustainable Living." KoKo Feb 2012 #111
I lived through it, both as a war protestor, and the spouse of a vietnam vet. one of the things niyad Feb 2012 #5
Well, it led to my career. trof Feb 2012 #6
Did you meet George Bush? HubertHeaver Feb 2012 #60
HA! Nope. trof Feb 2012 #83
Damn! Still no eyewittness he was in Alabama. HubertHeaver Feb 2012 #118
Never was and never will be. trof Feb 2012 #121
on the crux-- I turned 18 in '73, a high school dropout with a LOW lottery number.... mike_c Feb 2012 #7
Minor quibble but Watergate would never have occurred without Vietnam, a point made coalition_unwilling Feb 2012 #70
A very significant change in my family's lives HeiressofBickworth Feb 2012 #9
When I was 8-11, the nightly news reported on our dead soldiers daily. DCKit Feb 2012 #10
Um, minor quibble, but I think the number of U.S. combat fatalities was coalition_unwilling Feb 2012 #71
The total U.S. military fatalities in the war is now 58,272 pinboy3niner Feb 2012 #80
And even sadder, more than that have taken their own lives after they got home. AnotherDreamWeaver Feb 2012 #113
Having lived through it, I would say that everyone living at that time who was of draft age, or enough Feb 2012 #12
How could a 10-year war not affect everyone in America?? Major Hogwash Feb 2012 #13
I ducked the war with an academic deferment like that bastard Newt Gingrich. dimbear Feb 2012 #14
Willie was the ultimate chickenhawk. WhoIsNumberNone Feb 2012 #23
Romney believe that saving vietnam from communism was worth dying for, but flexnor Feb 2012 #29
He believed it was worth dying for- WhoIsNumberNone Feb 2012 #43
As long as the person doing the dying was a Sp*c, a coalition_unwilling Feb 2012 #73
Like Cheney, Romney simply had "other priorities". Those coalition_unwilling Feb 2012 #72
Willard Rmoney's attire shows why he NEVER was in tune with the people. Bozita Feb 2012 #49
his attire wasnt out of step for 1966, when the picture was taken flexnor Feb 2012 #63
This message was self-deleted by its author onenote Feb 2012 #103
Breathtaking change of culture from 1965 to 1968 flexnor Feb 2012 #16
Thanks for your post...It was what I was asking about. You are Not Vietnam..but a little Younger... KoKo Feb 2012 #38
My experience was similar to flexnor's Art_from_Ark Feb 2012 #53
Funny, what you said about Nixon is somewhat true of W, raccoon Feb 2012 #88
Bush was no Nixon, although his dad was Nixon's ambassador flexnor Feb 2012 #93
Well said. AnotherMcIntosh Feb 2012 #98
Only 16 in '73, but dad and I had some heated arguments over Vietnam,, benld74 Feb 2012 #17
born in 1956 - remember it as a horrible/stressful time. My parents were ready to ship me to Canada NRaleighLiberal Feb 2012 #18
I was born that same year Mojorabbit Feb 2012 #41
I was A1 for two years and I was determined not to go even if I had to leave the country. Sancho Feb 2012 #19
Wow, that is a hell of an anecdote and proof that casualties coalition_unwilling Feb 2012 #74
first lottery 1969...my number was 111. spanone Feb 2012 #20
9/14 WAS THE FIRST DRAWN NUMBER..MY BIRTHDAY... angstlessk Feb 2012 #24
Here is how I know... angstlessk Feb 2012 #28
My boyfriend came back a junkie..... glinda Feb 2012 #25
There is experience and there is experience malaise Feb 2012 #27
That is one hell of an anecdote and proof positive that coalition_unwilling Feb 2012 #75
It messed me up malaise Feb 2012 #77
I served in Vietnam; it affected my life profoundly pinboy3niner Feb 2012 #30
thank you for your service flexnor Feb 2012 #31
You undoubtedly mean well. AnotherMcIntosh Feb 2012 #40
I hope the sign I carried.... moriah Feb 2012 #48
Thanks..I know what you say... It goes both ways these wars... n/t KoKo Feb 2012 #58
The stories of "hippies spitting on returning vets" Lydia Leftcoast Feb 2012 #55
Thankyou pinboy3niner Feb 2012 #99
Were you there pre- or post-Tet '68? coalition_unwilling Feb 2012 #76
After Tet pinboy3niner Feb 2012 #81
My Cousin served in the 101st Airborne. AnotherDreamWeaver Feb 2012 #114
Draft number 15. So I enlisted in the Air Force slater71 Feb 2012 #32
I was in the Marine Corps donco Feb 2012 #33
As a result of the Viet Nam War, I became a full-fledged liberal and I'm never going back. AnotherMcIntosh Feb 2012 #34
The PBS documentary "Vietnam" (based on Stanley Karnow's coalition_unwilling Feb 2012 #79
Notwithstanding the inter-service rivalries, there are some cultural differences AnotherMcIntosh Feb 2012 #97
Of course, one would have to have been dead to not have been effected by that debacle... Alameda Feb 2012 #35
There was a huge shift in families-some survived, some not. Its never been documented. And should be MichiganVote Feb 2012 #36
Agree...there's never been a movie that showed how it affected the families and what it did to KoKo Feb 2012 #59
My husband had a low number so he was told if they signed up marlakay Feb 2012 #37
I wasn't born yet, but my mother was... and her views influenced mine. moriah Feb 2012 #39
So many heartfelt posts about their experience...I'm still reading.. KoKo Feb 2012 #42
Some of the vets that post in the veterans group have responded here, denbot Feb 2012 #45
I'll second that pinboy3niner Feb 2012 #101
In 1969 I was 19, 1-A and my number in the lottery was 98. hobbit709 Feb 2012 #44
I can't even describe the effect it had on me and my friends graywarrior Feb 2012 #46
I was young and stupid. I joined the Navy before they started the lottery. Stinky The Clown Feb 2012 #47
It was about May 1965 and one yer earlier I had decided to join the Navy while INdemo Feb 2012 #50
Huh?!1 Well, *yeah* my and everybody's life was impacted UTUSN Feb 2012 #51
Yes. lonestarnot Feb 2012 #54
Drafted in June of 1970, number was 181... aka-chmeee Feb 2012 #56
It was the beginning of the end of my family's conservatism Lydia Leftcoast Feb 2012 #57
I don't know his entire story but my brother in law's life was changed csziggy Feb 2012 #61
Mr. Tikki was drafted... Tikki Feb 2012 #62
When I was in college (1968-1972) ... frazzled Feb 2012 #64
My brother went to the Nan. My husband s-cubed Feb 2012 #65
65 replies and 800 views, I show up late AnotherDreamWeaver Feb 2012 #66
Drafted during Vietnam. Elwood P Dowd Feb 2012 #67
Born in 1949, Golden Raisin Feb 2012 #78
"It is impossible today to describe the influence and ominous omnipresence of “the draft” to those raccoon Feb 2012 #89
The last things you say: AnotherDreamWeaver Feb 2012 #117
The War was a central fact that was up front every day! Are_grits_groceries Feb 2012 #82
There are things I will never forget newblewtoo Feb 2012 #84
It defined everything we did. grantcart Feb 2012 #86
I don't see how anyone who lived through Vietnam War Era, could say their life was not changed raccoon Feb 2012 #87
+1 onenote Feb 2012 #102
Whole family affected Mad-in-Mo Feb 2012 #91
Many years after the war, my then-wife insisted she'd been unaffected by it pinboy3niner Feb 2012 #95
Technically, I was a draft dodger malthaussen Feb 2012 #96
When they asked me to extend my enlistment to kill people for LBJ, I told them to fuck off. Tierra_y_Libertad Feb 2012 #100
Born in '53. Lottery number in mid-40s. Called for physical. Avoided physical. Got CO deferment. onenote Feb 2012 #104
You might find this study interesting. onenote Feb 2012 #105
My dad served in the early years of Viet Nam (mid 60s) - TBF Feb 2012 #106
That's one of the consequences that's not talked about much in wars... KoKo Feb 2012 #109
I flew 250+ air combat missions in Viet Nam, Laos, and Cambodia. DemoTex Feb 2012 #107
Great to see you back, Mac pinboy3niner Feb 2012 #108
From what I've read from you we are almost same age... KoKo Feb 2012 #110
My brother was drafted and died there Autumn Feb 2012 #112
Sorry to hear about your loss. It must have been extremely traumatic for you. grantcart Feb 2012 #115
I was born just in time to get my dad a deferral varelse Feb 2012 #116
I never got the sense from any documentary about Vietnam that it was not a mistake. Jennicut Feb 2012 #119
....1 KoKo Feb 2012 #120
I watched it on TV and wondered why the country south of me had gone insane TrogL Feb 2012 #122
You mean Southern USA....they've always been that way... KoKo Mar 2012 #123
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