I was a junior at UNC and remember sitting in my dorm room with several friends, watching on TV as the numbers were called during that first lottery. A lot of "dark humor" filled the room as we waited. Among my friends in the room, I turned out to have the first number called- "123". My comment was "well, at least it will be easy to remember". I was fortunate that I ended up with a med school deferment and wasn’t drafted, but several of my friends from that night were. None were killed, but at least one had significant psychological problems after returning home from the war. Every time I watch the televised "lottery drawings" for state and regional lotteries, I can’t help but remember that night.
