Just pointing out that we aren’t at war.
Which reminds me, people eventually realized that poor health would result in deferment. Many of them misrepresented their health as being much worse than it was when they showed up for screening.
Not implying your dad would have been one of them. I just remember reading a firsthand account of such an event recently.
It was actually nice to read about. There are always hacks to every system, for better or worse.
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I think my number was in the 30’s, turned 18 in Dec 72, stopped the draft in 73 if memory serves.
Could do what my late wife’s brother did…got in his car and moved to Canada.
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That’s right. Carter gave those who had avoided the draft a blanket pardon. I think that was issued only a few days after he entered the office.
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There were draft counselors available at every college, and elsewhere, where young men could seek assistance in avoiding the draft, sometimes less than legally.. They would inform you of all of your options, which doctors to see that might find a malady to warrant a medical deferment, how to be a conscientious objector, provide contacts in Canada and Sweden, etc.
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That’s right. I was in the first group that turned 18 after the law was enacted, went to the post office to register. Filled out the card handed it to the clerk and the smart ass said “see you next week”. I ignored it… but today he probably would have been fired if I pursued it.
If they passed him. He would have went. He just would have never passed. I remember testing some of his glasses when I was learning how to work optometry equipment. I kept thinking I was doing it wrong. lol. The prescription was so high. The optometrist said, nope, that’s just a strong script.
My dad was a -12 for his prescription. Military won’t take anyone above a -8.
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My uncle joined the guard before the draft started. He wasn’t trying to avoid anything. I forget why he joined and he’s passed, so I can’t ask him. I just know he joined before being drafted was an issue
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At -500, I’d be screwed aka qualify and I was #30 in 1970, 38 in 1971, and 166 in 1972
Think that’s why some of my uncles chose to enlist in the Navy and Air Force.
A few guys I knew joined the reserves, mostly the naval or coast guard, because the chances of being called up were tiny. By 1968-69 though, reserves had so many guys that they stopped taking volunteers.
It’s funny how things inverted that way. I guess that’s what you get with a smaller scale war.
If I understand correctly, a ton of the WW1 and WW2 officers and NCOs were reserves.
That shows the difference between a war that most folks thought we should fight and win vs. a war that many, if not most, didn’t understand and didn’t think we should fight.
National guard was rarely deployed in the past. It was supposed to defend the country. That’s why it was called the national guard.
Over the years Congress started to use them more as it let us keep a larger army. They moved unites from active to guard or reserve to be sneaky.
I was part of an ASMB. Those are only part of the guard. MASH (now renamed) are only part of reserves. So to activate a larger army unit. You must call up guard and active.
Great for pandering politicians but bad for the military. The Army should be able to deploy rapidly and the current design prevents that. Since a guard unit needs to train before deployment, it slows everything down. For out rotational war strategy it work but for a real conflict, it won’t work.
We lost a coworker in Iraq who opened a mail bag and it blew up. I knew he was National Guard reserve but didn’t know why he was also referred to as military police.
Army Staff Sgt. David S. Perry gave his life in the line of duty while inspecting a suspicious package in Baquabah, Iraq, on August 10, 2003, while serving with the 649th Military Police Company, Army National Guard. He is remembered as a dedicated soldier, a respected correctional officer, and a devoted family man.
My grandpa memorized the eye charts in WW2 so he could fly. He talked about this in a journal that he kept. He was a navigator on B17 that flew 32 sorties.
The old airmen are wild. Have you ever read about b17 crews? What a hard job
My dad had a physical for Korea.
He grew up so poor that he had to wear shoes too small for him so he ended up with all his toes upturned in a “hammer toe”. So he was DQ’d for his feet.
After talking at length with my physical therapist, I’ve learned that we fuck up our entire lower bodies by wearing shoes. Even the ones that fit well tend to cause problems, just to a lesser degree.
Toes getting smooshed together, arch support, and atrophying of the little muscles and connective tissues — those issues domino up through the ankles, knees, hip flexors, and back muscles as well.
Somehow our prehistoric ancestors lived for six or seven decades without shoes — and outside no less, with rocks and thorns under their feet.
I go barefoot for as long as I can each day, even if it’s just when I’m inside at the house. During all of my foot presses in the gym (squat, deadlift, leg press, calf press), I lose the shoes.
My uncle was also a navigator during WW2, flying out of England. I don’t know if he flew in a B-17 or B-24. If a B-24, he was lucky to come back because half of them didn’t. He simply wouldn’t talk about any of it to my dad or me.