I was finally drafted in Sept. 1969 (after a year of avoidance due to a problem ankle but by then they would take anyone). It was impossible to get into the nat’l guard or the reserves. The navy and air force had waiting lists to get in. At the induction station on Pecan Ave. in Charlotte they had red and blue circles (about 18" in diameter and a foot apart) on the floor (2 reds to each blue). At the end of the day all of us poor bastards still there (about 100) had no hope left…we were going to Ft. Bragg that night, or so we thought. They made us get up and stand on a circle and like little sheep there we were when a gunny in starched dress blues came in and drafted everyone on a blue circle into the Marines (you had to be strong to stay on a red circle). Fortunately (everything is relative) I was on a red and ended up at Bragg for the next 8 weeks. The weather was 60-75 degrees the whole time and absolutely not a single drop of rain. That’s the good news. Later (I think December) we were in the barracks at Ft Gordon (MP school) listening (and betting on our numbers) to the lottery picks. They picked 366 numbers (for leap year). My birthday is June 8th. My number was 366. I won over $200 (everyone put a buck in the hat to get into the pool) in the state of Georgia’s first lottery (of course it was national but we were breaking the law by gambling in Ga.). Can you believe it….366; I only needed a couple more months to get off scot free. Got some good stories to write when I get time though. More later.
