My lottery number was 107, and the night of the lottery I was visiting my girlfriend at Northwest Missouri State U, in a large residence hall TV lounge. The room was quiet, the mood very serious, and the suspense was great. As each number was read and the date revealed, around the room people either shouted with relief or began crying (both draftees and companions).
I later refused to appear for induction and applied to be a conscientious objector, the first in the history of my Missouri county to do so. I served my two years alternative service as a group therapist in a mental health day treatment center in Ithaca, NY.