Wednesday, November 10, 2004

Jackpot


The Vietnam draft lottery began on December 1, 1969. With radio, film and TV coverage, the capsules were drawn from the container, opened, and the dates inside posted in order. The first capsule - drawn by Congressman Alexander Pirnie (R-NY) of the House Armed Services Committee - contained the date September 14, so all men born on September 14 in any year between 1944 and 1950 were assigned lottery number 1. The drawing continued until all days of the year had been paired with sequence numbers.

My father's birthdate, September 10th, was #71 out of 365. Too bad he'd been drafted two years earlier. By December 1, 1969 my father was home in his own bed again. His younger sister tells me now, "The man who came home looked like my brother, but I didn't know him."

I'm making lists of questions now in hopes my father will give me answers. Questions about weather, culture and practice. The ink is running low on my favorite pen and I'm scratching deep into the notepad, phrases like 'Did you' 'Have you'.

I'm thinking of buying a new ink pen, but I'm trying not to let my luck run out just yet. If I'd had a go at that lottery, been born just 25 years earlier, my number would've been 78. Born December 27th, I was drawn just seven capsules after my dear old dad. I wonder, what are the odds?

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