Each man's Selective Service System record includes a "Remarks Column," usually containing four numbers in the following format:

(70) 175 10 24

The first number -- (70) -- shows the individual was eligible for the draft lottery in 1970.

The second number -- 175 -- shows the man's birthdate was the 175th date drawn in the 1970 draft lottery. That number is called his Random Sequence number, or more commonly his lottery number.

Another lottery each year assigned an Alphabetical Random Selection Sequence Number, or lottery number, to each letter in the alphabet. Those numbers were used to determine the order in which men born on the same date were drafted.

Using the example above, the man's birthdate was the 175th drawn in the 1970 draft lottery. But thousands of young men shared that birthday. His last initial -- 'P' -- was the 10th drawn in the alphabetical lottery for 1970.

His first initial -- 'E' -- was the 24th drawn in the alphabetical lottery for 1970.

According to Sharon Toon of the SSS Records Division, "The order of selection among men born on the same date was determined by the order in which the first letters of their last and first names were drawn."