I recall being very nervous before the lottery. My GPA was struggling at the time as I had just been dismissed for poor scholarship, and had to apply for probation status to continue for one more semester. My brother Charles and I were registered with Draft Board 100 in Webster Groves, Missouri, which was known for taking significantly more inductees and the adjacent Draft Board 220. My brother had just been drafted, and to enable graduation from KU he was deferred from service for 120 days, provided he enlisted in the regular Army. He was blind as a bat, had a bad knee and a heart murmur. He was still taken and served two tours in Vietnam and was awarded the Bronze Star for valor. He made us proud.
Me, I just lost my student deferment and received my I-A status. I recalled that my brother received his notice to report about a month after losing his student deferment, which made me extremely nervous. Two weeks later I received an order from Draft Board 100 saying that I was going to be subject to the lottery. I breathed a temporary sigh of relief.
After the lottery occurred my number (168) missed the call which topped out at 125 that year. A second sigh of relief came over me. My close friend Jim came in yelling "Let’s (expletive) get drunk–my lottery number is 285–no Vietnam for me!" We drove to the Stables that night and later he dropped me back at McCollum Hall. Instead of sleeping it off in the dorm, he drove back to his home in Sugar Creek, MO to spend the weekend. The next Monday night after classes, Jim came back to campus and said, "Let’s get drunk again, I just joined the Navy!" As far as I know, he probably retired in the Navy. I went on to graduate from KU on the Dean’s honor roll with a degree in Architecture.