Don, New Jersey, 1969. No. 242: Hot Off The Teletype

The evening the first lottery was held, a large number of male students and their girlfriends waited for the results outside the the offfice of the school newspaper, the ‘Technician’, next to Syme Hall.  As the results came in over the...

Larry, Florida, 1969. No. 19: Parris Island 1970

I studied Nuclear Engineering at NC State from 1966-1970. In February of 1969, my best friend from high school in Alabama was killed in Vietnam. I had tried to talk him out of dropping out of Auburn and joining the Army, but he was stubborn and did it anyway. I was...

Art, North Carolina, 1969. No. 354: Mixed Feelings All Around

I was finishing up my final semester at NCSU… had been in Air Force ROTC in anticipation of going into the service. The lottery changed everything at the time, and perhaps for my life. I had held campus interviews and was offered a position at RCA Computer...

Frederick, North Carolina, 1969. No. 9: The Polar Bear Command

This is the only lottery that I ever won, and probably the only one that I ever will.  I was a student in college & was reclassified because I stayed out of school for one semester and got married.  That made me eligible for the lottery.  Every time...

Craig, North Carolina, 1969. No. 2: I'll Wait Til The Next War

I was an English Ed student when the lottery occurred…my birthdate, Nov. 22, was the SECOND ping pong ball to pop up…I remember thinking "Oh hell."I had a brother-in-law-to-be who was an English major at Lenoir-Rhyne College in Hickory and he was...

Jim, North Carolina, 1970. No. 195: Lessons Not Learned

I graduated from NC State University in 1970.  Some time during my undergraduate years (1966 – 1970) I had receieved my II-S classification which allowed me a student deferment.  Shortly after graduating in May of 1970 I received my I-A classification...