Gentlemen, Sirs! <salute>
At age 18 having just graduated from High School in 1971 I won the Draft Lottery!
There were two fish bowls, one was filled with every date of the calendar year and the other was filled with the number 1 through 365.
I was working in a grocery store and had the early shift. As I was leaving my relief came in and he was in the lottery too. I inquired as
to what number he had gotten, and he replied that his number was 356. Great, at the time it was a known fact that if you received a 3 digit
number you were fairly safe. So when I got home, I checked the afternoon Seattle Times Newspaper and there it was on the front page!
Number 1 was on the upper portion of the fold and when I flipped it over there was my birth date: December 4th! I won!
When I got my draft notice to report to the local Bus Station that would take me downtown to Seattle for my military physical, my Dad drove me
up to there! On the way driving on the Freeway there was a sign that said North to Vancouver, B.C. My Dad looked over at me and asked:
"Well should we head up to BC?" (British Columbia, Canada). We didn't of course and I ended up joining the US Army to become a Draftsman.
I spent almost 9 years in active service in the US Army! Luckily my only overseas deployment was to Taiwan during that time! My military
career was never spent in combat arms, so it has never been a positive aspect of my gaming. However, my time in the service saw me stationed
Maryland and Northern Virginia where I had an opportunity to visit a few ACW Battlefields!
Growing up as a kid we always seem to be playing army or cowboys and Indians! When I was around 12 years old my Best Friend got his first
Avalon Hill (Baltimore, Maryland) board wargame. That was the start of my gaming career. Later in the Army I came across an ad in a magazine
for Strategy & Tactics/SPI which published a magazine with a wargame in each issue every other month. I was hooked. Then later while shopping
at Costco I came across a computer game called Civil War Generals and later Civil War Generals II. I was hooked again! Since that time, I have accumulated
a bunch of books on the American Civil War which enhances my desire to belong to the ACWGC! Unlike a lot of our members, none of my Family was
even in the United States prior to the American Civil War!
Salute to all those who did and have served in combat arms!
General Nick Kunz
Commanding,
Armstrong's Cavalry Brigade,
2nd Corps, AoT
Dean of Cadets, ATA
