The New York Times - The Opinion pages 

What It Was Like to Be Drafted

During the Vietnam War every male of my generation — all 28 million of us — faced the vexing question of what to do about the draft.

During my four years as a deferred college student, every guy I knew had countless conversations about it.

In my case, politics had little to do with my avoid-or-submit decision. While I felt the war probably was a good thing (to stem the march of worldwide Communism), I knew that I had options to get out of taking part in the escalating fighting halfway across the world.