I listened to Alice's Restaurant at noon [PST] on the radio and smiled – at first.

Then I remembered that if you were over 18 in the 60's and were a male – it was not a fun time.  39 Whitehall Street in Manhattan was a place to worry about – it determined, like all draft places, whether or not you went to Vietnam where, if you were 19, you stood a pretty good chance of dying!

Being a native New Yorker, this was where so many of my male friends went – but in the early 60's the draft boards still gave 4F status for many – and many included most of my male friends who showed up after hitch hiking across the country sans showering or changing clothes, had long hair, beards – or other such "undesirable" traits.  Being arrested for littering fit into the undesirable category.

It was a scary time and tho I smile at the song – I have memories that do not elicit smiles.

As Vietnam wore on, most anyone and everyone was drafted and the anti-war anti-draft movement got stronger. 

In 1973 the draft was ended and the Vietnam conflict ended in 1975.

PS – I am one who tries to not call any conflict after WWII a war –  we have not ever had a formal declaration of  war since then!