I had watched the Vietnam war unfold since 1965 when my uncle headed to Vietnam with the 3rd Marine division. He ended up in Danang, a strange name I’d never heard of before, but I guess that’s the nature of any war, even today. I was just entering high...
The night of the first lottery I was with a gal pal in Shawnee Town south of campus, babysitting for some married friends of hers. We poured some drinks from the bottle of whiskey I had brought along and turned on the tube to watch the drawing. My birthdate is...
The prospect of being called to Viet Nam was a sobering one. Like many of my colleagues, I felt the war was a waste of lives with no legitimate goal in sight, and I felt genuine sorrow for those who were called. I was fortunate to have a student deferment,...
John and I met in a summer school class at UK during the summer of 1969. John was finishing his studies at UK and had been accepted into the Peace Corps program. Although John was scheduled to leave for his Peace Corps assignment in Liberia, we began a...
I received my lottery number of 184 from the first lottery drawing in 1969, but I had a deferment since I was then a full-time student at the University of Kentucky, where I played football. When I graduated in ’71, I lost my...
I remember how I felt when I first heard about a draft lottery. I had never been very lucky in my life. In fact I don’t ever recall winning anything before the lottery came into existence. When the magical night came to pass, me and several of...
