by | Apr 8, 2018 | Stories
In 1969 my roommates and I were seniors at Ohio State. We were all in ROTC and were already committed to serving but there was still drama the night of the lottery. WOSU radio was broadcasting the lottery. They played Herbie Mann’s Battle Hymn of the Republic...
by | Apr 8, 2018 | Stories
I was sitting on a bar stool in a pizza place just above Broadway on Eighth Street in Columbia, Mo. I had a draft Coors in front of me and above, behind the bar, the TV was live as they drew birth dates to match draft lottery numbers. Too young and still not too...
by | Apr 4, 2018 | Stories
Today in 2018 I found out why I did not go to Vietnam in 1972. I entered Colorado College in 1970 amid the controversy over the war. The lottery had begun in 1969 and I knew I would get a number. I knew student deferments were toast. On August 5,1971, I pulled number...
by | Mar 27, 2018 | Stories
The lottery number changed my life – I knew I would be drafted upon graduation in June 1970. I had already accepted a job in New York, but knew I would have to borrow money for clothes and a car before getting drafted, and then would not be making enough money...
by | Mar 27, 2018 | Stories
The Vietnam War draft lottery was a watershed event in my life, as I suspect that it was for so many others. I entered the University of Missouri in the fall of 1966 as a member of the McDonnell-Douglas Co-op Program in engineering. As the oldest of four children...
