Vietnam War draft and Frio County, Texas: Difference between pages

Revision as of 16:50, 1 November 2004

Revision as of 03:45, 11 July 2007

Line 1:

{{Infobox U.S. County|

On December 1, 1969, the [[Selective Service System]] of the [[United States]] held a [[lottery]] to determine the order of [[conscription|draft]] (induction) into the U.S. Army.

county = Frio County|

state = Texas |

seal = |

map = Map of Texas highlighting Frio County.svg |

map size = 250|

founded = 1871|

seat = [[Pearsall, Texas|Pearsall]] |

area = 2,938 [[square kilometre|km²]] (1,134 [[square mile|mi²]]) |

area land = 2,935 km² (1,133 mi²) |

area water = 3 km² (1 mi²) |

area percentage = 0.11% |

census yr = 2000|

pop = 16,252|

density = 6|

web = |

|}}

'''Frio County''' is a [[county]] located in the [[U.S. state]] of [[Texas]]. As of [[2000]], the population is 16,252. Its [[county seat]] is [[Pearsall, Texas|Pearsall]][[Geographic references|⁶]]. Frio County is named for the [[Frio River]].

[[Image:1969 draft lottery photo.jpg|right|Credit: Selective Service System]]

==Geography==

The days of the year, from 1 to 366, were written on slips of paper and the slips were placed in plastic capsules. The capsules were mixed in a shoebox and then dumped into a deep glass jar.

According to the [[United States Census Bureau|U.S. Census Bureau]], the county has a total area of 2,938 [[km²]] (1,134 [[square mile|mi²]]). 2,935 km² (1,133 mi²) of it is land and 3 km² (1 mi²) of it (0.11%) is water.

Capsules were drawn from the jar one at a time.

===Major Highways===

The photograph shows Congressman Alexander Pirnie (R-NY) drawing the first capsule for the Selective Service draft, December 1, 1969. Congressman Pirnie's left hand appears to be on the mouth of the jar.

*[[Image:I-35.svg|20px]] [[Interstate 35]]

*[[Image:US 57.svg|20px]] [[U.S. Highway 57]]

*[[Image:Texas 85.svg|20px]] [[State Highway 85 (Texas)]]

*[[State Highway 173 (Texas)]]

===Adjacent counties===

The first number drawn was 258 (September 14). Men of draft age whose birthday fell on the corresponding day of the year would all be drafted at the same time.

*[[Medina County, Texas|Medina County]] (north)

*[[Atascosa County, Texas|Atascosa County]] (east)

*[[La Salle County, Texas|La Salle County]] (south)

*[[Dimmit County, Texas|Dimmit County]] (southwest)

*[[Zavala County, Texas|Zavala County]] (west)

==Demographics==

It was noted soon afterwards that the selection was not entirely uniform across the months of the year. In particular, days in December had a lower rank (sooner induction) than other months.

As of the [[census]][[Geographic references#2|²]] of 2000, there were 16,252 people, 4,743 households, and 3,642 families residing in the county. The [[population density]] was 6/km² (14/mi²). There were 5,660 housing units at an average density of 2/km² (5/mi²). The racial makeup of the county was 71.86% [[Race (United States Census)|White]], 4.87% [[Race (United States Census)|Black]] or [[Race (United States Census)|African American]], 0.58% [[Race (United States Census)|Native American]], 0.41% [[Race (United States Census)|Asian]], 0.02% [[Race (United States Census)|Pacific Islander]], 19.76% from [[Race (United States Census)|other races]], and 2.50% from two or more races. 73.76% of the population were [[Race (United States Census)|Hispanic]] or [[Race (United States Census)|Latino]] of any race.

The ''[[New York Times]]'' ran an article on January 4, 1970, titled "Statisticians Charge Draft Lottery Was Not Random".

There were 4,743 households out of which 40.70% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 55.20% were [[Marriage|married couples]] living together, 16.00% had a female householder with no husband present, and 23.20% were non-families. 20.60% of all households were made up of individuals and 9.30% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.98 and the average family size was 3.44.

A [[scatterplot]] of the days of the year (horizontal axis) and their ranks (vertical axis) shows a noticeable absence of days in December with high ranks (later induction).

<center>[[Image:1969 draft lottery scatterplot.png]]</center>

<center>1969 draft lottery scatterplot.</center>

In the county, the population was spread out with 28.70% under the age of 18, 11.20% from 18 to 24, 30.80% from 25 to 44, 18.70% from 45 to 64, and 10.60% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 31 years. For every 100 females there were 121.40 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 130.20 males.

==References==

The median income for a household in the county was $24,504, and the median income for a family was $26,578. Males had a median income of $23,810 versus $16,498 for females. The [[per capita income]] for the county was $16,069. About 24.50% of families and 29.00% of the population were below the [[poverty line]], including 36.20% of those under age 18 and 30.40% of those age 65 or over.

* S.E. Fienberg. "Randomization and Social Affairs: The 1970 Draft Lottery". ''Science'', volume 171, pages 255-261 (1971). ''(Cited by Starr as the "best and most comprehensive" article on the topic)''

==Cities and towns==

* Norton Starr. "Nonrandom Risk: The 1970 Draft Lottery". ''Journal of Statistics Education'', volume 5, number 2 (1997). ''(Also available on-line: [http://www.amstat.org/publications/jse/v5n2/datasets.starr.html] Contains a lesson plan for statistics class using the 1970 and 1971 draft lottery data)''

*[[Bigfoot, Texas|Bigfoot]]

*[[Dilley, Texas|Dilley]]

*[[Hilltop, Texas|Hilltop]]

*[[Moore, Texas|Moore]]

*[[North Pearsall, Texas|North Pearsall]]

*[[Pearsall, Texas|Pearsall]]

*[[West Pearsall, Texas|West Pearsall]]

==See External links also==

*[[Winter Garden Region]]

*[http://www.landscaper.net/draft.htm The Military Draft and 1969 Draft Lottery for the Vietnam War] ''(News stories from the period)''

*[http://cnx.rice.edu/content/m10142/latest Introduction to Graphs] ''(List of draft ranks, additional analysis)''

*[http://www.lbl.gov/Education/CSEE/asteroid_impact/franksstory.html Frank Asaro - Astroid Impacts: The Inside Story] ''(Mentions the shoebox in passing)''

==External links==

[[Category:Vietnam War]]

* {{Handbook of Texas|id=FF/hcf10|name=Frio County}}

* [http://texashistory.unt.edu/search/?q=%22United+States+-+Texas+-+Frio+County%22&t=dc.coverage Historic Frio County materials], hosted by the [http://texashistory.unt.edu/ Portal to Texas History.]

{{Texas}}

{{coord|28.86|-99.11|display=title|type:adm2_region:US-TX_source:UScensus1990}}

[[Category:VietnamTexas Warcounties]]

[[Category:Frio County, Texas| ]]

[[Category:United States counties with Hispanic majority populations]]

[[de:Frio County]]

[[bpy:ফ্রিও কাউন্টি, টেক্সাস]]

[[lmo:Frio County, Texas]]

[[no:Frio County]]

[[nds:Frio County]]

[[pt:Condado de Frio]]

[[zh:弗里奧縣 (德克薩斯州)]]