I had already been drafted before the lottery, in 1968. I was in grad school but deferments for grad school had been eliminated. The lottery put a lot more sanity into people’s lives by removing some of the uncertainty. (I gave up on going to the East Coast for grad school because I didn’t want to have to move back to California if drafted–as it turned out, my family had to move my stuff out of my apartment, because I was trying to get out of going into the Army until the last minute). Still, my number would have been drafted in any case, so I ultimately was glad that I served for two years and was then able to move on with my life. And, the Army made enough of an impression on me that I changed my grad school and career plans. I doubt that I would have ended up where I am today were it not for my Army experience.
