Vietnam War Draft Stories

Educator and writer Tom Weiner has been gathering stories of the men and women affected by the Vietnam draft –those who served, those who resisted, those who got out with high lottery numbers, those who enlisted in an attempt to avoid the effects of the draft, those who left the country and those who counseled, comforted and consoled.
His book is entitled CALLED TO SERVE and he is still seeking additional stories from those who left the country and those who served time in jail.

The purposes of this website and the blog to which it links are to bring these stories to a wide audience whose responses are welcome and to enable those who visit who have stories to tell to share them and get feedback. It has been very diffiult to actually end the book, CALLED TO SERVE, because there are an endless number of stories and incredible variety to them. Having this website will not only give folks an opportunity to read the ones from the book, but will hopefully encourage others who have been wanting to have a place to tell their story to do so.

The experience of interviewing men and women for the book has convinced Tom that these stories need to be told. Invariably the men and women sharing have expressed deep appreciation for the opportunity to express often well-hidden emotions and to reflect on experiences that played pivotal roles in their lives and the lives of their families. The decisions made 40 years ago continue to reverberate.