As I recall, the entire frat house was watching and listening to the lottery and drinking beer. After about number 200 or so, I took a bio break and while standing there, another brother came to use the head. He was one year older than me, but we both had the same birth date. I asked him wasn’t it great that our birth date had not been called and they were up to 250 ? He said bull shit, our number is 91! I remember that moment like it was yesterday.
I was scheduled to graduate in Fall of ’72 and sure the draft would not reach my number. I had heard they were only going to go to No. 75. Since most of my class mates graduated in May ’72, I decided to attend summer quarter and get out a little earlier. Should not have done that! President Nixon decided to up the draft in ’72 to No. 95 and not draft anybody during the final six months of the law in ’73. (This is how it was told to me, actual fact or not!) I found it hard to get a job offer while not being sure of my draft status. I called my draft board and talk to Helen Johnson (I was on a first name basis with her by then). I told her I was to graduate on August 13 and needed to know if I would be drafted. She told me she was holding my draft notice in her hand and would be mailing it on September 1. I believe I was one of the last draftees out of Atlanta.
In basic training, there were only 8 college graduates and I was made acting jack (platoon sergeant), even had my POV at basic. Then went to OJT in MP Records and sent 90% of graduating MP’s to Vietnam for the pull out. I received my orders to Berlin Germany. Our POW’s came home in February ’73 and I went to Berlin in March ’73. I ran the Berlin Golf and Country Club pro shop for the next 20 months.
Wouldn’t trade my military experience for anything! It helped me grow up, appreciate our great country more than I ever would have, and I still stay in close communications with my Army guys to this day!