post office. For those of you younger than me, there was a lottery
system in place. Every year the government drew numbers out of a hat
or basket or whatever and decided who would go to war. The numbers
were tied to your birthday. I was born on halloween and my draft
number was 10. The government then called up numbers during the year
to safisfy their need for troops. A low number guaranteed your
opportunity for Viet Nam.
To avoid Viet Nam, I signed up for an additional year of service in
the army and got to pick my job. I did my research and picked a job
they didn't do in Nam. I chose to repair radar. They were only
located in Florida, Korea or Germany. Seemed safe enough until my
unit was activated for an emergency in Israel. It seems we had sold
them the radar and we were going to assist in their maintenance.
Fortunately for me, Israel ended the war quickly and I never had to
"assist".
The army was good to me in many ways. I married at 18 and had a son
at 20. This was all at the army's expense. I traveled much of
Germany via backpack and train and share my love for travel with my
family today. The army put me through school and helped me get jobs.
All-in-all, life wasn't so bad being a "Draft Motivated Enlistee".
Visit http://37stories.wordpress.com. You'll meet Archie and all my friends.
For more GodSpots - 37stories Enjoy!
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