I remember a number of us meeting with our girlfriends in their college student lounge to watch the results of the lottery. At the time we weren’t aware how far into the numbers the following year’s draft would go. My birthday was pulled out at the 261st draw but I still wasn’t certain that I wouldn’t be called.
As an engineering student who graduated the following June, my first job came with a deferment so ultimately it didn’t matter what number I got. I had determined that I would not refuse to go but would refuse to handle a gun. To this day I have never fired a gun.
In our class were twins who were born either side of midnight. Cruelly, one had a very low number and one had a high number. I never found out what happened to them.