At the height of the Vietnam War, the U.S. military draft became one of the most divisive issues in American history. Nearly 70% of American soldiers serving in Vietnam were draftees, many of them young men barely out of high school. The draft system, based on local draft boards and a lottery, was riddled with inequality — students from wealthy families often avoided service by enrolling in college, while working-class men and minorities had little means of escape. African Americans, in particul