View Full Version : Lest We Forget...



Dennis Heaton
12-24-2013, 10:16 PM
Selective Service System: History and Records (http://www.sss.gov/lotter1.htm)

Merry Christmas to all those that survived and to the families of those that didn't...we will never forget!

Signed,

Dennis Heaton, USAF, Retired

ljbab728
12-24-2013, 10:21 PM
I don't think there is any danger of forgetting. Current and past military members get much more recognition from the public now than they have in many years.

gjl
12-24-2013, 11:01 PM
I remember it well. I was a student at OSU, classified 1H student exempt and after my lottery drawing I was reclassified 1A. It was a bit of a confusing time because Nixon had already ended the draft but you still had to register with the Selective Service and they had the lottery drawings going on. And I have much gratitude for all that serve or have served.

What I find sad is on a day to day basis, you'd never know this country is currently at war and has been in Afghanistan since 2001. There was some awareness of war when we were in Iraq, but we have young men and women losing life and limb every day in Afghanistan and for the general US population, it has no effect on them. God bless our troops and I wish we would just bring them home..

ljbab728
12-24-2013, 11:24 PM
What I find sad is on a day to day basis, you'd never know this country is currently at war and has been in Afghanistan since 2001. There was some awareness of war when we were in Iraq, but we have young men and women losing life and limb every day in Afghanistan and for the general US population, it has no effect on them. God bless our troops and I wish we would just bring them home..

I don't find that to be true at all. It is very much in the American conscience and most are very well aware of what happens.

Have you been in an airport recently when American's in uniform just walk off a plane? They are very much in everyone's thoughts.

gjl
12-25-2013, 09:18 AM
Don't confuse appreciation of our men and women in uniform with awareness that we are at war and that military men and women are getting killed and wounded every day. And for over 12 years now?

ljbab728
12-25-2013, 07:42 PM
Don't confuse appreciation of our men and women in uniform with awareness that we are at war and that military men and women are getting killed and wounded every day. And for over 12 years now?
If you're referring to my post, I haven't confused anything. I stand behind my statement completely. We have stories on the news and in the papers daily about casualties there. The public knows and that is why the military members get so much continuing appreciation and respect.

Dennis Heaton
12-26-2013, 04:45 PM
Just A Note: I began this discussion for three reason:

1. My Step-Father, USN, (deceased), served in Vietnam and he passed away 5 days before he was going to retire from the Navy.
2. My Cousin, Jimmy served in Vietnam, USA.
3. My oldest Son asked me if I had to go to Vietnam? I told him about the Draft and told him to check out the Selective Service website and get back to me and tell me what my Lottery Number was. He missed it altogether (327). I was classified 1-H. Had I been born in Mar 1953...I would have been 001. I enlisted in the Air Force in Jan 1973 (65170).

ljbab728
01-04-2014, 11:59 PM
If you're referring to my post, I haven't confused anything. I stand behind my statement completely. We have stories on the news and in the papers daily about casualties there. The public knows and that is why the military members get so much continuing appreciation and respect.

There is this to back up my comments.

2013 brings fewest Oklahoma military casualties in a decade | News OK (http://newsok.com/2013-brings-fewest-oklahoma-military-casualties-in-a-decade/article/3920666)

One casualty is certainly too many but this is worth mentioning.

PennyQuilts
01-05-2014, 08:40 AM
Just A Note: I began this discussion for three reason:

1. My Step-Father, USN, (deceased), served in Vietnam and he passed away 5 days before he was going to retire from the Navy.
2. My Cousin, Jimmy served in Vietnam, USA.
3. My oldest Son asked me if I had to go to Vietnam? I told him about the Draft and told him to check out the Selective Service website and get back to me and tell me what my Lottery Number was. He missed it altogether (327). I was classified 1-H. Had I been born in Mar 1953...I would have been 001. I enlisted in the Air Force in Jan 1973 (65170).

My brother was 001 with no chance for an exemption. He promptly enlisted in the marines at age 17.

PennyQuilts
01-05-2014, 08:48 AM
I don't find that to be true at all. It is very much in the American conscience and most are very well aware of what happens.

Have you been in an airport recently when American's in uniform just walk off a plane? They are very much in everyone's thoughts.

I think there are many, many, many people who support our military and am happy with that. That being said, I personally know some young people who are downright scornful. I was at a party a couple of years ago and someone was jeering about a young woman she'd seen at a different party who stood when they played the national anthem on television and who had, allegedly, alienated everyone at the other party by saying she supported our armed forces. I interjected that maybe she was from a military family or had even lost a loved one. The response? "Oh, I doubt that. She was obviously just weird." Anecdotal, yes, but people like that are among us. It was if this person didn't even stop to consider how heartless she came across.

PennyQuilts
01-05-2014, 08:58 AM
I get what is being said about you wouldn't even know there was a war. Yes, we know about the war, intellectually and it is a topic of political debate (even a political football). But in the absence of war on our shores or the draft, huge sections of our populace aren't affected, at all. To them, it is often purely theoretical and they aren't sharing the burden, at all. With the horror of Vietnam and the draft, everyone knew someone either serving, who had lost someone, or who was struggling with injury, including PTSD. With larger families, there were few people who felt immune from having a love one potentially sent to Vietnam. Plenty of kids stayed in school to avoid being drafted - it was a life changing situation whether you served or not. The anti war movement for Vietnam makes the anti war movement of today look bloodless and anemic. At the end of the day, if the war doesn't end, chances are you still won't be personally affected unless you choose to. Vietnam and earlier wars were different. Ask a young person the biggest burdens in their life and fear of battle death or war related difficulties isn't even on the radar.