Rusty, Maryland, 1969. No. 262: Free To Teach

I was in our house (which I rented along with six other students, all class of ’71) at 1218 Broad Street the night that the Draft Lottery results were announced. At about 11 that night, I heard a couple of my fellow tenants coming through the door and talking...

Bob, Arizona, 1969. No. 213: A Role In My Future

The commons room of my dorm at Duke was as full as I’d ever seen.  All the excitement was early as the low numbers were called. My number, 213, was relatively high, but not high enough for me to relax. I’d heard from some friends that if you turned in...

Bill, Georgia, 1969. No. 012: Pressure Filled

I have vivid memories of that night. My college roommate and I had been studying and started watching the lottery when it had reached number 20. We watched until almost 300 and decided we were home free. We went out to celebrate and found out the next day I was number...

Tom, Maryland, 1969. No. 025: The New Reality

I did not watch the first half of the lottery, having had a bad (and accurate) premonition of how it would turn out for me. What I remember most about what I did watch was the smiling faces of the people my age as they participated in the process of selecting numbers...

John, North Carolina, 1969. No. 325: It Wasn't Your Fault

I was one of the few males in my immediate circle of friends at school that was not concerned about the first draft lottery in December 1969 due to the fact that I had already served my country in Vietnam. My college sophomore year was 1965-66....

Gary, Virginia, 1969. No. 031: Looking For An Out

I was a junior at Duke, and we were driving back from the double overtime victory over Virginia Tech at Greensboro when we tuned into the middle of the lottery on the radio.  I recall hearing from about 150 until 365, and my birthday was not mentioned....