I was No. 121 in the lottery, for which I won an all-expense paid trip to Ft. Knox, KY. At the completion of AIT and about to be sent to an even better vacation spot in Southeast Asia, President Nixon stopped sending troops to the ‘Nam. I saw the last contingent of new soldiers leave Ft. Knox for the war zone. I was allowed to leave and go to a National Guard unit. Since I had not completed college, I went to the Lexington unit so I could return to UK and complete my degree.
During my last semester, a professor advised me to go to graduate school for a Masters in Social Work, as I was graduating with a BA in sociology. I cannot remember his name, but he told me to go to Tulane. I thought he was crazy since I was not a stellar student. But Tulane accepted me and I did attend and graduate. Prior to this, I had no idea of what I was going to do. The lottery changed all that and I am happy to say that I had a great career as a social worker. Who would have thought that something good would have come from winning/losing the draft lottery? Ah, the fickle finger of fate.