After the Selective Service called up 30 lottery numbers in each month for January, February, and March of 1970, I felt like the lottery was just another government joke to get the public (mainly those of us of military age) off their backs…a postponing action. It didn’t require the 15 hours of calculus that I had taken on the way to my degree in chemistry to do the math and figure my number (210) would be up in July or August.
I had the opportunity to join the Kansas Air National Guard in April and I did since I was graduating from KU in June and didn’t want my wife to be a widow as the result of an illegal war. The Air Force, in their infinite wisdom, made me a construction equipment operator. I got to enjoy my first wedding anniversary while in basic training at Lackland AFB in San Antonio, when I also learned that military call-ups for 1970 were going to stop at 195.
Not the most pleasant weather there in June and July, and I swore that I would never go back, but I broke down and went back with my wife to see KU win the national basketball title in 2008. I was really impressed with how much nicer both the Alamo and the Riverwalk had become, but I still avoided the Air Base side of San Antonio.