I was a graduating senior from UNC in 1969. I was engaged and the date of the wedding was set for August, 1969. As my senior year was approaching completion, I had no job (no one was hiring potential I-A’s), no residence and I was about to become a husband. I scrambled to get into a USAR unit and, luckily, was inducted five days after the wedding.

I was in basic training at Ft. Ord, CA when the lottery numbers were drawn. My number was well within the "cut off" and I would likely have been drafted. I do recall how stressful the uncertainty was  for those who chose to wait and take their chances on a "high" number. Most of my friends and classmates volunteered in one capacity or another to simply get on with our lives. The war in southeast Asia was the most difficult social challenge of my young adulthood.