One of the conflicts that Americans participated in, which I know the least about, happens to be the Vietnam War. I won't even pretend to know the first thing about what sparked the initial standoff between North and South Vietnam, nor why the United States felt the need to become involved.
With minimal research, I can report that the war spanned 20 years, from 1955 to 1975, with ties to the Cold War which was "raging on" as the backdrop. North Vietnam was backed by the Soviet Union, and South Vietnam had the U.S. and other anti-communist countries backing its interests. The U.S. military was actively involved from 1965, under President Lyndon B. Johnson's command, until its withdrawal in 1973 during President Richard Nixon's term. According to the Department of Defense Statistical Information Analysis Division (SIAD), nearly 60,000 American service members died as a result of the war, with another 300,000+ wounded in action.
Many of those men had not enlisted in the armed forces on their own accord, nor had any intention of fighting in a war outside of their own country. Rather, they were called up to serve in the Vietnam War draft which was conducted via a lottery put in place by the Selective Service System.
My father, Gary Foltz, was one of those young men who became eligible for the draft. He was born in November 1953. From 1971 to 1975, the military began assigning numbers to those whose birth year fell between 1952 to 1956.
Here, he and my mom recount their experience waiting to hear if his number would end up being selected:
Really, due to sheer luck, his number wasn't called. The birth year of 1952 became the last batch of draftees; the final random birthdate of 20 July 1952 was selected on December 7, 1972. Then, on January 15th, 1973, all U.S. combat activities were suspended in Vietnam. And by March of that year, all U.S. personnel were withdrawn from the country.
Gary's older brother was already serving in the U.S. Army during this time, and had been stationed in Berlin during the Cold War. But Gary had not been on the same trajectory as his brother, who was nearly 10 years his senior, so Gary's late birthdate really played in his favor.
The authority to induct men into service via the draft expired on 1 July 1973. Any draft numbers issued between 1972 and 1975 were instead only used to call in some men born between 1953 and 1956 for armed forces physical examinations. My dad was not selected for that either.
To this day, active conscription for the U.S. Armed Forces has never been reinstated, and military participation remains on a volunteer basis only. However, all adult male U.S. citizens are required to register with the SSS for conscription on a contingency basis. Failure to do so may result in denial of federal services for the individual.
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