The Lottery And The Choke-Out

YHC was sorting through some of my mother’s items that I had stored in my house. As I sifted through mounds of old papers and documents, I am came across my fathers draft information.

As I read over the document, I thought about the anxiety the nation must have felt that day.  My father was 19 years old on Dec 1, 1969. He was fresh out of trade school had a job as a welder at GM. He had a life plan that changed in an instance.  His number was 125. At first he thought he was good, but every number 195 and under where called to duty.

For the Q today, our work was based of the Vietnam lottery.

If interested the table can be found here:

Vietnam Lotteries | Selective Service System : Selective Service System (sss.gov)

We started with the pledge then went right to work.

The Thang

• 22 for the troops
• A quick mosey to the baseball field.
• First Pax was under 195, we did imperial walkers to that number.
  • Would have been drafted
• Second Pax was under 195, we did LBC’s and bear crawls to that number.
  • Would have been drafted
• Third Pax  was over 195, we did Moroccan night clubs to that number.
  • Would not be drafted
• Fourth PAX was under 195, we did steps up to that number.
  • Would have been drafted
• Fifth PAX was under 195, we did LBC’s to that number.
  • Would have been drafted
• Six PAX was over 195, we did Mike Tysons and CDD’s to that count.
  • Wound not be drafted
• Seventh PAX was over 195, we did a count to recover from the previous exercise.
  • Would  not be drafted
• Eighth PAX was under 195, we did Squats to that count.
  • Would have been drafted

Think about our family’s during that time and our nation. In our group, 5 of the 8 would have been drafted and sent to war.

YHC did not grow up in a pleasant household. We were poor and lived of a steady diet of government cheese, out of date yogurt, and powered milk.  When my father came back from the Vietnam, he was disabled from agent orange exposure.  In those times, the government did not recognize agent orange for disability benefits.  My father lost his job as a welder and was unable to work.

As my brother and I  buried my mother along side my father. We both smiled.  As children we had some different chores than most kids. One of my chores, was rolling Top Tobacco into cigarettes.   60 a day, placed in old Marlboro packs. It had to be done before sports or homework.   Many times as I did this, my mother and father would rant about the VA. They were resentful and angry. My father had that great union job before the draft. That one day on Dec 1, 1969 changed their world  and hundreds of thousands of others forever.

Now here they lay, buried together overlooking the VA administration building they hated years ago.

Prayer Request

• Freight and family
• Huck
• Turtleman
• Sister Act
• BOS’s Dad
• Kids going back to school

Announcements

• 50 Mile relay Sept 10th
• JJ 5K Set 24th
• F3 Dad’s Aug 20th
• 2nd F Lunch Wednesday – Viva Tequis

Thanks to all these HIMS that helped me out after I choked-out myself.  I almost made it.

Big Pappy