Like all male students at a Land Grant college, I had to take the first two years of Basic ROTC courses. One fateful day, I got a letter from my "friends" at the Draft Board informing me that, since I was 1 credit shy of where I should have been in my academic progression, that I would be ordered to take a physical and that I would be drafted if I passed. Since I not only had all the requisite body parts in functioning order but was also a varsity athlete, I knew I’d pass the physical.
TET was raging in Viet Nam, and I had no particular desire to go there. I decided the best course available to me was to sign up for Advanced ROTC, which I did. Then the lottery came out, and even though I wound up with a high number, it would have been too late for me. I graduated in `71 and was stunned to get assigned to Germany instead! Although I never planned to stay in the Army, I wound up with a total of 28 years’ service in Active, National Guard, and Army Reserve. Command of an Engineer Combat Battalion was one of the high points of my life.