Most of what I knew about the Vietnam era had to do with what was happening stateside in response to the war, not about the war itself. I'm compelled to find out everything I can about something before I profess to have enough authority to write about it at all. I did way more research than is probably reflected in the actual text of the novel, but it felt important and necessary (as well as fascinating) to understand all the logistics of what might have happened to Roddy before I carved out the details of his backstory. It is also hard to stop researching once you're deep into it--you read something and it raises another question so you go in search of that answer and find a dozen more questions along the way. It's the best kind of learning for me -- my own personal continuing education. --Thisbe

Below, Thisbe shares some of the sites where she found interesting facts about the war.

The Draft: Looking Back and Looking Forward, by Becky Bosshart
Article describing the history of the draft in America

Selective Service System: What Happens in a Draft at sss.gov
Information regarding the lottery system and how it works

Michael S. Foley, Dept of History, University of New Hampshire
Research on draft resistance

Burn Baby Burn (those draft cards) at ustrek.org
Article on how men avoided fighting

1968 Timeline
Timeline describing major events of 1968

Incredibly Comprehensive Site on landscaper.net
Timeline and statistics of Vietnam War

Draft and 1969 Lottery on landscaper.net
Information regarding the background of the first draft

Oral History on pages.prodigy.net
Personal accounts of Vietnam experiences

Would You Have Been Drafted?
Article explaining the draft on CNN.com

War Resistance, Amnesty and Exile, by Harold Jordan
Article on war resisters

The Whole World was Watching--an Oral History of 1968
Stories from Vietnam compiled by Brown University and South Kingston High School students

Selective Service and Military Litigation 1969-1972
A summary of findings related to men avoiding the War