July 28, 1965: LBJ's Big Draft Increase

July 28, 1965: President Lyndon B. Johnson announces his order to increase the number of United States troops in South Vietnam from 75,000 to 125,000, and to more than double the number of men drafted per month, from 17,000 to 35,000.

Until now, Vietnam had been just a name to most Americans. And the protests of the war had been small, manned by just a few thousand people -- most still with suits and short hair. They certainly didn't look like radicals.

LBJ probably figured, with his signing ceremonies for Medicare and the Voting Rights Act coming up, most people wouldn't notice this increase in the draft rolls. (That's why embarrassing stories are often leaked by politicians on Fridays or just before holiday weekends, and it's not just the nature of the holiday that leads to pardons on Christmas Eve.)

But the Watts riot was about to happen -- between that and this, the Johnson Administration had peaked, and would never be so popular again. Most Presidents usually get a "honeymoon" that lasts 100 days after their Inauguration, January 20 to April 30, with good media coverage, without serious criticism. Because he had become President following the assassination of John F. Kennedy, LBJ had gotten over a year and a half, including an actual election. But it was coming to an end.

There was another change the following month: On August 26, 1965, LBJ signed an Executive Order, ending the exemption for married men from being drafted. Any marriage performed after Midnight, local time, on August 26 would be powerless to save someone from the draft under the U.S. Selective Service Act.

All across America, young couples scrambled to say their "I dos" before the clock struck 12. In one Las Vegas courthouse, which usually handled 10 to 12 weddings a day under the liberal marriage (and divorce) laws of the State of Nevada, 171 frantic couples tied the knot on August 26, most of them between the hours of 10:00 PM and 12:00 Midnight.

The backlash had already begun. On April 17, in a demonstration organized by Students for a Democratic Society (SDS), 25,000 people marched against the war in Washington. On May 5, 40 men burned their draft cards, the 1st time this was publicly done, at the University of California, Berkeley, and a coffin was marched to the Berkeley Draft Board. As far as I can tell, this is the first public burning of draft cards in the Vietnam era.

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July 28, 1965 was a Wednesday. These baseball games were played that day:

* The New York Yankees lost to the Detroit Tigers, 4-3 at Yankee Stadium. Starter Jack Cullen and reliever Steve Hamilton fell apart in the top of the 8th inning, including a home run to Norm Cash. Al Kaline went 2-for-4. For the Yankees, Tony Kubek hit a home run, and Mickey Mantle went 1-for-4.

* The New York Mets were swept in a doubleheader by the Chicago Cubs, 7-2 and 9-0 at Wrigley Field in Chicago. Larry Jackson pitched a 5-hit shutout in the 2nd game. Over the 2 games, Ernie Banks went 5-for-9 with a home run and 3 RBIs.

* The Boston Red Sox beat the Kansas City Athletics, 6-0 at Fenway Park in Boston. Carl Yastrzemski hit a home run. Bill Monbouquette allowed 8 hits, but kept the shutout.

* The Baltimore Orioles beat the California Angels, 5-1 at Memorial Stadium in Baltimore. Brooks Robinson went 1-for-4.

* The Minnesota Twins beat the Washington Senators, 8-1 at District of Columbia Stadium (later Robert F. Kennedy Stadium) in Washington. Harmon Killebrew hit a home run.

* The Philadelphia Phillies beat the Pittsburgh Pirates, 1-0 at Forbes Field in Pittsburgh. Cliché Alert: Walks can kill you. With 1 out in the top of the 14th inning, Don Schwall walked Tony González, Johnny Callison and Dick Allen. Alex Johnson singled Rojas home with the winning run. Vernon Law had pitched 12 shutout innings for the Pirates. Jim Bunning pitched 2-hit shutout ball for 8 innings, and Jack Baldschun allowed 3 runs over 6 innings to be the winning pitcher.

* The Cleveland Indians beat the Chicago White Sox, 4-2 at Cleveland Municipal Stadium.

* The Milwaukee Braves beat the Houston Astros, 6-4 at the Astrodome in Houston. Hank Aaron went 0-for-2 with a walk and an RBI on a sacrifice fly. Rookie Joe Morgan hit a home run for the Astros.

* The Cincinnati Reds beat the Los Angeles Dodgers, 4-1 at Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles. Sammy Ellis outpitched Sandy Koufax, including getting more strikeouts, 12-8. Frank Robinson went 0-for-4. Pete Rose went 1-for-4 with an RBI.

* And the San Francisco Giants beat the St. Louis Cardinals, 8-5 at Candlestick Park in San Francisco. Willie Mays went 0-for-3 with a walk.