by | Apr 22, 2010 | Stories
So in my first year at Queens college I "win" the lottery with No. 74. My friends and I celebrate our particular luck at our annual beach football game with our sweatshirts showing our numbers, clearly the soon to be dead (low numbers) against the long...
by | Apr 20, 2010 | Stories
After graduating from UNC-CH in August of 1969, like many of my peers Vietnam was in my future. My first (non-military) job after college was training mine/trip-wire dogs for duty in Nam. I began to realize what these dogs were being trained to do was important, and...
by | Apr 20, 2010 | Stories
With such a low number I was called in for my army physical in February and passed (like everybody else). Since I had no desire to join the Army and go to Vietnam I started exploring alternatives. I considered joining the Navy. I even passed their physical, but it was...
by | Apr 16, 2010 | Stories
When the lottery was conducted December 1, 1969, I was preparing to report to Ft. Jackson after January 1 for my 3-year enlistment. I don’t recall watching the actual process, and may have just read it in the paper the next day since it...
by | Apr 15, 2010 | Stories
While I am not a complete pacifist, I knew I would never serve in Vietnam. While I honor those who believed and sacrificed in that war, I wasn’t one of them. I considered the war wrong, immoral, and knew I would never fight if they dragged me there. I...
by | Apr 15, 2010 | Stories
Your question recalls the turning point of my life. On December 1, 1969, I was a recent University of North Carolina graduate working in the news department of WAYS radio in Charlotte, with a draft eligible bulls eye on my back. Literally and figuratively, I was a...