This scene is a representation of the importance role the draft played during this time period. The first draft was on 1942. Before the Vietnam war draft, which the movie refers to, the Selective Service System used the "draft the oldest man first" method. This war's new system was to have capsules containing birth dates that when drafted gave men ages eighteen to twenty six a lottery number. The Vietnam draft begun December 1, 1969 when Alexander Pirnie drew the first date (as seen on the left). Statistics show that out of 1,728,344 draftees 17,725 died in combat, that is 30.4% of all combat deaths. An important aspect was soldier's addiction to opiates. In contrast to the traditional reasons to take drugs soldiers had in the Civil War, to alleviate the pain of wounds, in the Vietnam War they were used "to get high" and/or reduce stress. Addiction to opiates caused financial burden and criminal problems. The government also had to deal with men wanted to avoid being drafted and the anti-war movement. Men who wanted to evade going to war would commonly burn their draft letters, move to Canada or find medical excuses not to leave.
Sources:
- http://www.outsidethebeltway.com/vietnam-draft-lottery-had-lasting-impact
- http://www.nationalvietnamveteransfoundation.org/statistics.htm
- http://www.druglibrary.org/schaffer/history/soldis.htm
