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slash memory.

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This is the memory palace, underneath

1:32

the mail. Maybe

1:34

you remember, I don't.

1:37

Because of the CBS News special report,

1:39

which follows, Mayberry 94

1:42

will not be presented tonight, but will

1:44

return next week at its regularly scheduled

1:46

time over most of these stations. The

1:49

draft lottery. The

1:51

news came on. Maybe you were just

1:53

going to watch Mayberry 94 and were

1:55

surprised. Maybe you had scheduled

1:57

your whole week or more. Cancel

2:00

plans. Got off work. To

2:03

be there in front of the set on December first

2:05

nineteen sixty nine, are you listened

2:07

on the radio? In the living room with

2:09

your folks like it was nineteen 94. Your

2:12

father pacing like his father might have

2:14

done in nineteen forty. Your

2:16

mom there with her brave face on.

2:18

Ash on her cigarette growing long,

2:21

or you were listening on the little transistor

2:23

radio propped up on the shelf above the sink.

2:25

And your dish washing job with all

2:27

the guys in the kitchen. Each of you hanging

2:29

on every number. The one older

2:31

dude, north of thirty. Keeping

2:34

his mouth shut for once. Maybe

2:36

he got in the car to listen because

2:38

the reception was better, he said. But

2:40

really, you just wanted to be out of the house away

2:42

from your roommates or your girl or

2:45

everyone. Just wanted to be driving.

2:48

Maybe you remember, I

2:50

don't. The news broke

2:52

in and there was a reporter, Roger 94

2:54

from CBS. He's young

2:56

and handsome in the video on YouTube. I

2:59

didn't realize you'd ever been young and handsome.

3:02

Tonight 94 the first time in twenty

3:04

seven years, the United States has again

3:06

started a draft 94. And

3:08

the famous first pick tonight, a

3:10

September 94. The

3:12

first birthday that now is designated double

3:15

zero one. Which means

3:17

for nineteen year old born

3:19

on September 94 -- Mhmm. -- at the

3:21

beginning in January. So, okay,

3:24

grass boards will induct those

3:26

men born on September fourteenth

3:29

R. A. Performance, the next

3:31

earth day in order for April twenty

3:34

94. And so on down the line

3:36

as you are. And so

3:38

on down the line. It

3:42

was the first draft lottery since the fall of nineteen

3:44

forty. A little over a year before

3:47

the US entered World War two, but

3:49

Washington knew where the whole thing was heading by

3:51

then. Twenty million men.

3:54

Ages twenty one to thirty six had to register,

3:57

had to have their birthday attached to a number,

3:59

one through three hundred sixty six.

4:01

There was an extra number for Elite Day babies.

4:05

So those numbers could be written on slips of paper.

4:07

So those three hundred sixty six slips

4:09

of paper could be put into three hundred

4:11

sixty six capsules and put

4:13

into a bowl. There was

4:15

a big ceremony. The

4:18

secretary of war was blindfolded with a

4:20

swatch of fabric cut from a chair

4:22

used during the signing of the declaration of independence.

4:25

He drew a capsule from the bowl that had

4:27

been stirred with a paddle made from a beam

4:29

from the ceiling of Liberty Hall. And

4:32

handed it to the president. In thousands

4:34

of people, united only by

4:36

their citizenship, and by the

4:38

various outcomes of cascading games

4:40

of chance, of timing

4:42

and biological processes and happenstance

4:45

that it meant each was born male on

4:47

that particular day in the calendar. During

4:50

this narrow window of years would

4:52

be sent off to war. There

4:57

was less ceremony in nineteen sixty nine.

4:59

There was no blindfold. No

5:02

relics to wrap that night in the spirit of

5:04

the founding. Just carpet

5:06

and curtain in the basins and browns

5:08

of Vietnam Arab democracy. No

5:11

president or cabinet member to do the

5:13

honors. Nixon left the

5:15

number pulling to selective service officials

5:17

and their secretaries. December fourteenth.

5:22

That's member fourteen

5:25

001.

5:28

And at least one young man from the president's

5:30

youth advisory council. All and Murray.

5:33

Rhode Island. There was supposed

5:35

to be others, but others 94. Said

5:38

they didn't want to be used as props by the Nixon

5:40

Administration. But

5:42

the numbers were pulled anyway, drawn

5:45

from blue capsules, drawn from a clear bowl,

5:47

in full view of the camera so no one could

5:49

call foul. On the process at

5:51

least. And slips of paper

5:53

were read out and stuck on bulletin boards.

5:56

A printed date, posted

5:58

beside numbers listed in order. 0012366.

6:04

And you just waited. Waiting

6:07

to hear your birthday called. That

6:09

date you know better than any other. Waiting

6:11

to hear it called out and posted beside

6:13

what would be your draft number that would

6:15

determine when you had to report for induction.

6:19

You even waited through commercials. And

6:24

here's the Norelco sada with some new

6:26

ways to say Merry Christmas. Give

6:28

the Norelco triple header with a cord

6:31

or in a rechargeable model. Give

6:33

the inexpensive flip top twenty

6:35

or the new battery cordless. And

6:38

say Merry Christmas to the ladies with

6:40

a lady Norelco, shaver or

6:42

beauty salon. Norelco,

6:44

even our name says, Merry Christmas.

6:48

February twenty ninth. And

6:51

another night later, there would be

6:53

another lottery. During letters

6:55

this time, It would determine the precise

6:57

order in which men who shared the same birthday

6:59

would have to report to be inducted. Those

7:01

with the initials JSM before

7:03

JJS or JRS

7:05

or whatever. Later, there would be a study,

7:07

a statistical analysis that suggested

7:09

the drawing of dates wasn't truly random,

7:12

that the bowl wasn't stirred well 94. That

7:14

December birthdays weren't picked often enough,

7:17

early 94. But the numbers called

7:19

on that Friday night in the winter of sixty

7:21

nine would stand. And

7:23

so eight hundred and fifty thousand men would wait.

7:26

Hearts and throats, knee

7:28

bouncing, fingers drumming on

7:30

steering wheel, whatever that

7:32

thing they would do when they were nervous was,

7:35

when they were waiting for something, some

7:37

game of chance to set the course of their

7:39

94. That might upend every

7:41

plan they'd laid. Dash whatever

7:43

hope stayed harbored for their life might

7:45

end their life. That

7:47

would go on to separate their generation into

7:50

94 and deferments and Dodgers.

7:52

I was doing it already that

7:54

night. As they watched

7:56

and heard their friend's birthdays get called,

7:59

and we're glad it wasn't theirs. As

8:01

they'd stand around in the kitchen comforting a

8:03

coworker, that the war would be over before his

8:05

thirty seven meant he ever had to go to Vietnam,

8:09

hoping that was true. Where

8:11

they knew already that the guy who pulled two twenty

8:13

four was never going to have to make good on his

8:15

promise to run to Canada. And they

8:17

had to look their brother in the eye when

8:20

he had sixteen. You

8:22

had one seventy two. They

8:25

were sitting on the warm hood of a car in a field

8:27

in a cold night and their best 94. His

8:31

birthday, they always remembered because it was Valentine's

8:33

Day, which meant he was

8:35

number four, and they got him

8:37

good and drunk. And

8:40

so on down a lot. October fifth

8:42

February nineteenth, December

8:44

fourteenth, July twenty first,

8:46

June fifth, three March October

8:49

thirty first, May twenty fourth,

8:52

April first, March seventeenth, November

8:54

second, August twenty

8:56

fourth, May eleventh, October October

8:58

30th, December eleven, May

9:00

thirteenth, December tenth, July

9:03

thirteenth, December ninth, August

9:05

sixteenth, August second, November

9:07

eleventh, May, November twenty

9:09

seventh, August eighth, September

9:11

third, July seventh, November

9:13

seventh, December twenty

9:15

second. The

9:28

memory palace is produced by me and Nadeau,

9:31

with engineering assistance by Kathy

9:33

Two, and research assistance

9:35

from Andrea Meline. This

9:37

show is a proud member of Radiotopia,

9:40

which gets sport from the Knight Foundation 94

9:42

MailChimp, which values chaos,

9:44

creativity, and teamwork. Adzerg

9:48

provides ad serving technology for

9:50

radiotopia. You can follow me at

9:52

Twitter at the memory palace. Find

9:54

me on Facebook also at the memory palace.

9:56

If you are in Providence,

9:58

Rhode Island or Southeastern New England,

10:01

Come see kind of a special

10:03

hometown show going back to

10:05

Providence at the Columbus Theatre

10:07

on September 94. 94

10:09

you're in the Southern California area, I am

10:11

going to be performing at

10:13

the now here 94 festival in

10:16

Anaheim the weekend of

10:18

October twenty ninth at I'm gonna be

10:20

performing on the Saturday, the twenty ninth. There's also

10:22

gonna be like meet and greets and stuff. It's

10:24

gonna be fun at third The idea is that

10:26

it's kind of like comic con for a

10:28

podcast. So there's a ton of

10:30

shows there. The moth, 94

10:33

Mark Marron, my friends in

10:35

criminal, my buddy Mike Peska from

10:38

SLAIT, some other SLAIT shows.

10:40

It's gonna be a good time. And you

10:42

can find information for both

10:44

those shows in any upcoming shows

10:46

at the memory palace dot

10:48

us. Thanks

10:50

for listening. Radio

11:09

tip. ERX.