At the time of the lottery I was a Sigma Chi pledge (Delta Epsilon Chapter), NC State University, and did not have the luxury of listening to any of the details on the evening of December 1st, but that was of no real consequence to me. Having watched the nightly news through the sixties I had already resigned myself to military service at some point – hopefully after college graduation. I joined ROTC during my freshman year thinking that this might better prepare me for the military when Uncle Sam came calling for me.
I graduated on time in 1972 and was immediately commissioned into the infantry as a 2nd Lieutenant. I reported to Fort Benning, GA within several weeks after graduation. President Nixon had begun the de-escalation of the war and my class – the Class of ’72 – was the first to not be levied for duty in the Republic of South Viet Nam. They say timing is everything.