We all crowded into the TV room at the fraternity house and waited anxiously for the first ball to be drawn. As numbers were called out, one brother and then another would cry out "NO" or sometimes an expletive. I kept expecting my birthday to be called next. But after number 200, I began to suspect that the lottery people had forgotten to put my birthday in the drum. My birthday is February 29, Leap Day, and there was no February 29 in 1969. By #250 I was sure that my birthday had been forgotten. Finally, at #285, February 29 was called out. By then, of course, I knew I was probably safe from the draft. I graduated in 1970, got a good job, and have led a normal life. But I recall my visit to the Vietnam War Memorial in D.C. I looked for and found my high school classmate’s name. I regretted not having participated in anti-war demonstrations. So when this Iraq War started, I began demonstrating. I made a big sign and have used it many times, including when President Bush came to town to raise funds for our Congressman. I have attended several hundred weekly demonstrations at the Stamford, CT Library. Many of us hold us signs that say "Honk to end the war in Iraq" and similar messages. I call this event "Honks & Fingers;" in the early years of the war we got few honks and many fingers. Now we get few fingers and many honks; many passionate honks. This war goes on, but I remind myself that it took a long time for the Government to respond to anti-Vietnam war sentiment.
