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From 1941 through 1973, with a short interruption in the late 1940s, young men at age 18 were required by law to register with their local draft boards. Each was classified according to his fitness for service and issued a draft card noting his name, age, and draft status.
Draft card destruction viewed as symbolic protest against Vietnam War
Possession of the card proved that the card bearer was compliant with the Selective Service System and had not tried to evade classification for military service.
Draft operations ran relatively smoothly before and during World War II and again during the Korean War and the 1950s. By the mid-1960s, as the United States drafted more troops for the Vietnam War and opposition to the war heightened, some men viewed the public destruction of their draft cards as an effective form of symbolic protest against both the war and the draft system that supported it.
Draft-card burning became one of the most iconic forms of protest during the war. It was a gesture made by young men who wished to buck the system but were not comfortable with more extreme measures such as going to Canada, participating in riots, or destroying induction centers. The symbolic act had legal implications, however.
Burning draft cards was a criminal offense
Burning draft cards was ipso facto illegal because all eligible men were legally required to carry their draft cards with them at all times.
Furthermore, after Congress adopted the Draft Card Mutilation Act of 1965 to promote the efficient