1969 Draft Lottery

This is still an incredibly scary video to me. This draft lottery was the government's completely random way of determining who would risk their lives in Viet Nam in the following year. It was run live on the networks (in this case CBS) and parents and teenagers throughout the country watched in fear. The broadcast bizarrely includes "Merry Christmas" commercials and two of the old, old men making the picks are shown congratulating each other with smiles after the first birthdate is chosen. CREEPY! I was almost 11 years old and I remember being scared out of my wits that this was happening and that young men were going to be forced to do this whether they wanted to or not! My mother--bless her--was scouting out Canadian cities when the war was still raging by the time I turned 15! For THIS they pre-empted MAYBERRY RFD??!!