I was a student at the Univ. of Wisconsin during the first draft lottery in 1969. I had a student deferment in any event, but I drew number 332. That meant getting drafted would have been a non-event, but it mattered not a whit as I was also a Midshipman in the school’s Navy ROTC department. One of my middie classmates drew a high number and quit the program on the spot, but that was not for me. You see my Uncle Howard had been an Army Air Corps aviator in the Big War and I wanted to follow in his footsteps. Unfortunately, my uncle perished in a B-24 accident in 1945. I was able to go the distance. I was commissioned an Ensign out of Wisconsin in Jan. 1971, got my Navy Wings of Gold in May 1972 and spent the next 28+ years flying P-3’s and doing other interesting jobs in both an active and reserve status. In March of 2008 I accomplished what my uncle never got to do – I collected my first retirement check from Uncle Sam! I survived a couple of wars during my tenure in the Navy, but never had a shot fired at me in anger.
