When I graduated from UCLA in June 1969, I knew I was likely to be drafted quickly by my draft board in Oregon City, OR.  In advance of graduation, I had applied to various Reserve and National Guard units in the LA area.  The day after graduation I was married and within days received my draft physical orders.  Fortunately, I also heard from an Army Reserve psychological operations unit with an invitation to join — which I did immediately.  It was based at Fort MacArthur in San Pedro.

In November of 1969, I was called to Basic Training at Fort Lewis, WA.  In the midst of the training, my wife mailed me a clipping from the LA Times listing the results of the initial draft lottery.  Unlike most young men at the time, I was rooting for a low number since it wasn’t going to impact me one way or the other.  My January 19th birthday earned me number 58, so I would have been certain draft bait.

I served out my six years of weekends and summer camps — and, thanks be to God, did not have to go off to fight a war I didn’t believe in.