A Minnesota PBS Initiative
draft dodger
My story begins in 1964. That’s when I first became aware of Vietnam. It was the same year Lyndon Johnson promised American mothers that if elected, none of their sons would ever fight in Vietnam. There was still no official... “war”. The US had been sending “advisors” to help the south in a civil war against northern “communists”.
I knew little of France’s defeat there—finally giving up after years of battle following WWII to keep it as a colony. The peace treaty provided independence to what was then called, “French Indo-China in 1954.
I knew nothing of Kenneth O’Donnell, “.....an American political consultant and the special assistant and appointed secretary to President John F. Kennedy from 1961 until Kennedy's assassination in November 1963. O'Donnell was a close friend of President Kennedy and his younger brother Robert F. Kennedy....."
“O’Donnell revealed that, “Charles de Gaulle warned Kennedy that the Asian mainland was no place to be fighting a non-nuclear land war. There was no end to Asiatic manpower.”
Kenneth P. O'Donnell, Special Assistant to the President. Photograph by Abbie Rowe, National Park Service, in the John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum, Boston.
He also recounted General Douglas MacArthur’s words to Kennedy, “....and even if we poured a million American infantry soldiers into the continent, we would still find ourselves outnumbered on every side.”... and to add...
“MacArthur was extremely critical of the military advice that the President had been getting from the pentagon, blaming the military leaders of the previous 10 years, who, he said, had advanced the wrong younger officers.”... and finally... “MacArthur implored the President to avoid a US military build-up in Vietnam, or any other part of the Asian mainland, because he felt that the domino theory was ridiculous in a nuclear age.”
In answer to why JFK didn’t follow this advice..... O’Donnell stated that it was JFK’s plan to pull out... but only after 1964. To pull out of Vietnam sooner would risk being labeled a “communist sympathizer”—likely ruining his chances of re-election. After Kennedy’s assassination—the “war” went to LBJ.
Upon high school graduation I became draft eligible. At the time there were options for delaying the draft. (deferments) Some were permanent—such as marriage. The day before that deferment ended there were record numbers of marriages—especially in Los Vegas.
My deferment was college. I didn’t go to avoid the draft. I went because I had scholarships allowing me to achieve a dream of becoming a college professor. I loved mathematics. Little did I know that such a choice would put me into a special category referred to as..... “draft dodger”.
Upon my arrival the college campus in August of 1965, I was joined by a record number of men in the freshman class. Many admitted they were there only to avoid the draft—claiming with confidence, “The whole thing will be over in 6 months.
By first semester’s end many of those boys had flunked out—never once having picked up a book. Without daddy’s help they were likely drafted. But those who lasted, like me, soon became aware of our “draft dodger” label given us by the military. Within 2 years anyone who didn’t average above a C in college would lose their deferred status.
In 1972, Curtis Tarr spins a plexiglass drum holding capsules with the birth dates and orders for men born in 1953 at the beginning of the fourth annual Selective Service lottery in Washington. Photo courtesy of Charles W. Harrity / Associated Press.
At age 71, I’m the same age as Bill Clinton, Mitt Romney, Sylvester Stallone, Steven Spielberg, Jeff sessions, and GW Bush. We all share experiences of different sorts regarding the Vietnam war. I take special interest in how other men my age escaped the draft during that awful time.
Jeff Sessions avoided Vietnam by serving in the “army reserve”. The army reserve didn’t exist until 1992. Must have been the National Guard. That’s how GW Bush avoided the war. Every state had a national guard. Being in the guard meant serving a longer time—6 years—but it was a guarantee not to go to Nam. In those days the guard was used most often to quell riots—preventing looting and enforcing curfews. If a tornado swept through a city, the governor would send in the guard to keeps gawkers and looters away. College campuses were a common call— as the number of riots against the war raged across the nation. We all know about Kent State.
There was no longer line than the one to get into the guard. No line for GW Bush. A simple phone call from his father got him to the front. One less spot for some poor unknown “less important” Texas boy who got pushed to the back of the line—likely resulting in his being drafted. Dan Rather went after GWB and look what happened to him—another story.
My father had kept me back a year in grade school, dreaming I’d turn into some sort of athletic superstar. My dad’s dream likely saved my life.
There were/are other famous men my age who lived through those days. Serial killer Ted Bundy, for example, and... Donald Trump. Donald, who claims to be so fit, also claims he couldn't pass the draft physical.
We all turned 18 in that same year—of all years, 1968. The bloodiest year of the Vietnam war... beginning with the Tet offensive. It became so bloody that LBJ’s guilt overrode his desire to run for another term. Soon after he made this announcement came the assassination of ML King. A month later Bobby Kennedy. Across the country cities were burning with what were referred to as “race riots”. How could you blame them? Their peaceful leader and promise of change shot down.
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Then there was the chaos of the democratic convention in Chicago. Through it all—every day—the war dragged on. Every evening Vietnam was in the news. Color TV was becoming affordable for the average American—just in time for them to watch the bloody wounded—night after night. They witnessed seeing bodies of men (boys) mostly my age. Over 200 a week in ’68.. Sentiment against that war was rising to a boil. Music reflected more and more the feeling of the young who opposed the war.… with phrases like, “Old enough to kill, but not for votin”.
That’s right. None of us had the right to vote when Johnson was elected. 1968 was the first year we were allowed. Like LBJ had promised—Richard Nixon also said he’d end the war. I was months older than most in my class as college graduation neared. My father had kept me back a year in grade school—dreaming I’d turn into some sort of athletic superstar. Didn’t happen. But it did result in postponing my draft physical for a year. 1969 rather than ’68. My dad’s dream likely saved my life.
Some men my age claim the lottery saved them. Beware of that excuse. The first draft lottery was held in December 1969—months after most of us would have already passed their physicals and put on a uniform. More than a year after Donald Trump and Mitt Romney graduated making them draft eligible again. No, for those guys getting a high lottery number tells me they had some other force (like a rich and/or influential father) keeping them out—up until the lottery.
In 2012 when Mitt Romney was hinting to run for president, I discovered his 1968 after college was spent proselytizing for the mormon church. In France of all places. Imagine thinking he could convert French people to a religion which forbade them to drink their own precious wine.
In the spring of ’69, as graduation approached, the 4 year haunting, suppressed fear of going to Vietnam came to a head. Especially as I learned that accepting any of my grad school offers in mathematics would no longer postpone my eligibility. No such thing as grad school deferments.
Biographical Details
Submitted From: edina, MN
Primary Location During Vietnam: Lincoln Nebraska, United States 
Story Subject: Civilian
Story Themes: Classism, Dan Rather, Donald Trump, Douglas MacArthur, Draft, Draft Dodger, George W. Bush, GW Bush, Jeff Sessions, John F. Kennedy, Kenneth O'Donnell, Lottery, Luck, Lyndon Johnson, Mitt Romney, News Coverage, Politics, Pop Culture, Student Deferment, White Privilege
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