Where can I find the official 1969 draft lottery list and birthdate-number mapping?
Executive summary
The official Selective Service tables that map every birthdate to its 1969 draft lottery number are published by the Selective Service System and reproduced online; the SSS history page hosts the Vietnam lotteries with full date-by-date tables (see “Each table shows all the birth dates…” and instructions to read the tables) [1]. Multiple third‑party reproductions and datasets (RandomServices, Wikisource, HistoryNet) mirror the same December 1, 1969 drawing in which September 14 was drawn first and assigned lottery number 1 [2] [3] [4].
1. Where the “official” table lives — go to Selective Service System records
The Selective Service System maintains a Vietnam lotteries page that presents the tables showing all birth dates and their assigned lottery numbers and explains how to read them; that page is the official government source for the 1969 draft‑lottery birthdate-to-number mapping [1]. The SSS page documents the December 1, 1969 drawing and the way the tables are laid out (months across the top, days down the side) so a reader can look up any month/day and find its lottery number [1].
2. Read the drawing details — the first date and how the draw worked
Contemporary and retrospective accounts state the draw was conducted December 1, 1969, at Selective Service National Headquarters, using 366 capsules containing birth dates; the first capsule drawn by Congressman Alexander Pirnie contained September 14, which was assigned lottery number 1 [1] [2]. The Selective Service and multiple historical accounts explain the capsules were opened and posted in order to produce the 1–366 mapping [1] [2].
3. Reliable online reproductions — datasets and reprints
If you want a directly usable table or CSV, reputable reproductions include RandomServices’ “Vietnam Draft Lottery Data” dataset (which labels the 1969 table “N69”) and Wikisource’s user page reproducing the 1969 results; both reproduce the same mapping from the SSS source [2] [3]. HistoryNet and several historical summaries provide convenient charts and interactive versions derived from the original tables [5].
4. What the tables show about who was called
The SSS documentation and secondary sources note that only birthdays assigned lottery numbers up to a certain Administrative Processing Number (APN) were called that year; sources report the highest lottery number called from the 1969 table was in the 195–215 range depending on the metric cited — RandomServices and independent sites say 195 was the highest number called for that cohort in early 1970, while SSS historical notes explain APN conventions and later highest numbers called varied by year [2] [1]. Readers should consult the SSS table and accompanying APN explanation to determine whether a given number would have been called in a specific calendar year [1] [2].
5. Controversy and statistical concerns around randomness
Statisticians and reporting at the time challenged the 1969 draw’s randomness because later-calendar birthdays tended to receive lower (earlier) draft numbers; historians and data analysts reproduce that bias using the official mapping [6] [2]. The SSS tables remain the official record, but several analyses (including academic and news coverage) highlight that the mixing procedure likely produced clusters and nonuniformity in the 1969 results [6] [4].
6. Practical steps — how to find your date and download data
- For the authoritative table, go to the SSS Vietnam Lotteries page and open the 1969 table; it is arranged so you can cross months and days to read the assigned number [1].
- For downloadable datasets or CSVs for analysis, use RandomServices’ draft data (N69 dataset) or the publicly posted reproductions such as the Wikisource transcription and other scholarly datasets that explicitly cite the 1969 draw [2] [3].
- For context and readable charts, HistoryNet and other history sites offer charts or interactive versions derived from the SSS tables [5].
Limitations and open questions
Available sources provided here confirm where the official tables are published (Selective Service System) and give multiple secondary reproductions and datasets; available sources do not mention a single consolidated government CSV download link beyond the SSS page, though third‑party datasets exist [1] [2]. If you want me to fetch a specific birthdate’s lottery number from one of these tables or to provide a downloadable CSV assembled from the SSS table and RandomServices dataset, say which format you prefer and I will point you to the exact file or extract the date mapping from the cited sources [1] [2] [3].