The Lessons Life Teaches, A Collection of Short Stories.

The Draft

I was born on December 7, 1953. This date was the twelfth anniversary of the bombing of Pearl Harbor by the Japanese, which pulled the United States into World War II. President Roosevelt called it "a date which will live in infamy." Growing up I often would get kidded about being the second day in infamy ... sigh.

Fast forward 18 years to 1971, in the spring I graduated from Camelback High School in Arizona and in the fall attended Arizona State University. In 1971, when you turned 18 you were required to register for the draft for military service. There were substantial penalties if you did not register including up to five years in prison and a fine of up to $250,000. How the draft worked, is within 30 days of your 18th birthday in 1971 you needed to register for the draft. A lottery was then held in February 1972 to determine the order you would be drafted. The lottery consisted of a large Plexiglas bin containing 365 cylinders, one for each day of the year. If the first cylinder drawn was your birthdate, then you would be the first to be drafted into the military. If your birthdate was one of the last to be drawn there was little likelihood you would be drafted. Based on the order determined by the lottery, you were eligible to be drafted into the military the following year, in 1973, at the age of 20. Typical military it is a complicated but orderly system. There were ways to obtain a deferment from serving if you were drafted. Examples were: (1) be a conscientious objector (2) have a health condition that precluded service (3) have children who need you (4) be a homosexual (4) attend college or (5) hold an "essential" civilian job.

In 1971, the year I registered for the draft, the United States was heavily involved in the extremely unpopular Viet Nam Conflict and in that year over 94 thousand young men were drafted into the military. As it got close to my 18th birthday, I went down to the draft office at the main post office in Phoenix. I still remember the big wooden counter and the petite, gray-haired lady who was working the counter. I went in and told her that I needed to register for the draft. She got out a form and took down my name, birthdate, and address and then asked if there was any reason that I did not feel I wanted to serve. I can't recall why but what came out of my mouth was I did not want to serve because I didn't feel it was right that we were killing people in Viet Nam. Then this wizened, concerned woman asked if I didn't want to serve our country. I said no, I didn't mind serving. Then she said would you like to help people then? This made my altruism come to the forefront and I said yes, I would be willing to help people instead of killing them. She said then we will put it down that if you are drafted you would like to be a medic. I said that would be very good and signed the form. After I was done and walking down the steps of the main post office, I suddenly had the stark realization that I had gone from having a gun in combat to just having a canvas bag full of bandages. I realized that I had been bested by a very savvy and skilled woman. But I let it go, as I began warming to the idea of helping people instead of killing them.

On February 2, 1972, the lottery took place, and my draft number was 267 out of 365. So, because I was in college and had a relatively high draft number it was unlikely that I would be drafted. Then in 1973, it was all a moot point because the Viet Nam war had become so unpopular that President Nixon ended the draft and made it an all-volunteer military. The war ended in 1975 with the fall of Saigon.

It is ironic that in 1978, a US poll said that "72% of Americans believed the war was fundamentally wrong and immoral". In 2000, "1/3 of Americans believed the war was a noble cause." The official government figures are that 58,280 American lives were lost in the Viet Nam conflict, another 150,000 were wounded and 21,000 were permanently disabled. PTSD from the conflict resulted in far too many suicides for soldiers who served in the war. I deeply respect and honor those that served in this conflict, but I am not a part of the 1/3 people who thought it was a noble cause. It was not - and we must be vigilant and not be lead down this path again by our politicians.