We all knew the date of the lottery. That night we gathered around the TV in the living room of the Lambda Chi Alpha fraternity house at the University of Georgia. Probably the best attended function ever. As the numbers were called out you would look around the room and see who winced. I was told at the time that my number was too high for me to get drafted and I had nothing to worry about. Well, my number was called after all, and I was devastated. No one except a few gung-ho types wanted anything to do with that damn war.
I immediately began planning how to avoid the draft. I found the lines to enlist in the reserves to be about a year long, same with the National Guard, the Navy, the Air Force, and the Coast Guard. However I could get a commission to fly Navy, but I did not want to sign up for the required 6 years. I had a friend who had served in the Marines and called him; he said no problem. He introduced me to a Captain who got me enlisted. I spent a total of 6 years in the Corps (some active, some reserve) and was stationed the full time in the States. LUCKY ME! I joke that I was a draft dodger by joining the Marines. Am still proud to be a Marine!