I was a UCLA student during the first lottery in 1969. When it occurred, my birthday came up 107 and I was I-A as student deferments had been dispensed with. At that time, we heard the government was going to take all numbers up to 195 so I wasn’t too thrilled. I eventually was able to stall the draft board with conscientious objector paperwork subterfuge until Nixon eventually abolished the draft after the 1972 election.
But trying to find some bit of humor in this situation, my wry, sarcastic wit came up with the following: I had my brother, very handy with a paint brush, re-do an old Avis rent-a-car button to read: I’m 107, what’s yours?. I wore it the next day after the lottery while walking on the UCLA campus. I figured it would be interesting to get the answer that was on everyone’s tongue…without having to verbally ask the question. People would see it and shout out: "43, 298, 138, 17," etc. I had a friend who had No. 3…but he never went…thank god.
I found the button in a box of about 100 buttons I have collected for over 40 years. It looks a bit trashed but I would have kept it in better condition if I had known you were going to write this email 38 years later.
