It was 1965 me and my buddies sprawled all over the living room. "Fuck," I thought, "I wish I don't get drafted, well, I wasn't technically drafted, i was in a lottery draft. Yep, the second way to get drafted! Let me explain.
Back then, there was a "lottery" in which every day of the year was selected in some random order and at the completion, they would announce that they expected to draft up to Number XXX. Meaning of course that if you fell within that range and you had no deferment, you would be drafted at some point.
So here I am. Eighteen years old, sitting in a friend's living room with a bunch of other guys, drinking beer and watching the lottery selection numbers on television. It was 1970 and we were all filled with the false bravado that 18 year olds possess. The first number came up. We all laughed wildly.
"Wow! How'd you like to be the schmuck with THAT date as your birthday?"
"I'd go to Canada first!" Someone else exclaimed.
The next date came up. I sat there in stunned silence. It was my birthday. Everyone else kept laughing.
"That's as bad as the first one!" Someone shouted.
I had no student deferment. I knew my ass was going. So instead of getting drafted, I went down the next day and "volunteered" for the draft. Just a few weeks later November, getting ready for my first deployment in Vietnam. Operation Jump.