1 Dec: The Vietnam Lottery

Which young men should be sent to fight in Vietnam? Amidst a growing public outcry against the biases in the system, the United States instituted a live televised lottery draft on December 1st, 1969.

In a sombre spectacle, plexiglass drums and capsules containing birthdates were drawn live on CBS, dictating the order in which men born on that day might be conscripted. Youth delegates participated to symbolize approval from the draftees’ generation, but some refused to cooperate; one storming off live on air, others making peace signs or reading out protests during the broadcast.

Arion, Rebecca and Olly explain how this dystopian ‘Hunger Games’ lottery came to be; consider the effect Vietnam the draft had on parenting and college statistics back home; and track their own birthdays to discover when they would have been drafted…

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