On the night of the televised lottery, my girlfriend and I had gone to the library to study together. On my return to the fraternity house, I learned that I missed the first 12 draft picks. The brothers had put together a draft pool for the unlucky guy with the lowest number. At end of the picks, I stated that my birthday had not been called and the guys told me I was number 6! My birthday is 6 September. I promptly announced that the money would be donated for beer for the evening and all thoughts of studying were drowned.
I barely kept my II-S student deferrment till my graduation in 1971. With such a low number, any employment interviews I attended were quite short. I was therefore commited to joining a military service and chose the Air Force. I served just over 5 years as a pilot and went on to fly for a major airline for 29 years. I attribute my good luck with my career to the time spent in the USAF and firmly believe that all young people should serve our country for 2 years in some capacity while learning a skill/trade with personal discipline.