It is a great question that takes you down into the time tunnel. As a junior in 1969 there was a high level of awareness and anxiety about the war. As an NROTC student I was keenly aware of what lay ahead. I had joined the unit as a freshman, knowing that a Navy officer had a better chance of coming home in one piece than an infantryman.

When the lottery was drawn I learned my number was 315. Isn’t that great-my next step was to try to get out of NROTC. This was my first hard lesson as an adult in contract law. I had signed a contract to enter the Navy some months before. Those were the rules and I decided to play by them.

It was a good decision in hindsight. The experience was life-forming.