By 1969, more than 14,350 Americans had been killed in Vietnam and 323,600 had been wounded. That same year over 250,000 Americans marched in Washington, D.C., to protest the war. And there was one major reason many people chose to protest the war in Vietnam—the draft board.

All American males between the ages of 18 and 35 were required to register with the Selective Service Administration and could be drafted into the army at any time. The draft board granted deferments to college and graduateschool students, which meant that much of the force in Vietnam was composed of minorities and working-class white people who could not afford college. With nearly three million men, and some women volunteers, needed by the military, thousands of men were drafted every year. The debate over the war had so alienated teenagers with anti-war beliefs from parents who supported the...