I remember lottery night very distinctly, during my first year in college. None of my immediate family had served in the armed forces, mainly because we were farmers and gained exemptions during the world wars. I had friends on campus from my home town and we all gathered around the TV in our suite to see what happened. I was very lucky and drew No. 342. My next door neighbor drew No. 4 and immediately went the next week and joined the reserves to avoid the front line of the war.
It was a day of decisions and very intense emotions within our small group. There was much discussion among all of us who were there as to what, why and if we would serve. Those were quite unusual times for a young person away from home for the first time. I came from a small town and was very unwordly for my age. I was however more advanced than some of my roomies. We had a great comradery among us and I enjoyed my life on campus immensely as I grew into a man.