The Selective Service System employed a random choice course of in 1969 to find out the order of name for army conscription. Birthdays have been assigned to the three hundred and sixty six days of the 12 months, positioned in capsules, and drawn from a glass container. This drawing established the sequence by which males born between 1944 and 1950 can be known as to serve within the Vietnam Battle. The recorded sequence dictated which younger males have been almost certainly to be drafted, with these assigned decrease numbers going through a better chance of service.
This course of aimed to create a extra equitable system than earlier strategies, ideally lowering the potential for manipulation and making certain equity in choice. The drawing held immense significance for American males of draft age and their households, profoundly impacting their lives throughout a interval of nationwide division over the Vietnam Battle. The end result of this drawing stays a traditionally related occasion because it considerably influenced the course of the battle and formed public opinion. It underscored the anxieties and uncertainties surrounding conscription throughout this period.