If you received a "One Y deferment" during Viet Nam, would you have

[trumad]

[Cha]

1. And the military told Dean they would call him if the Country

needs him! And here he is! I'm paraphrasing Dean on that! :kick:

[DemBones DemBones]

15. What? The military called on Dean to run for president? I'd

not heard that before. :crazy:

[Cha]

16. This Country needs Howard Dean!

And I want him to be my President!

[ibegurpard]

2. LOL on your last option.

:toast:

[salin]

3. Heck if you are Dan Quayle or Tom DeLay... you pout that some

minority soldiers stole your slot in the war.

Oh yes old Tom DID say that!

[LuminousX]

4. I would have cried

knowing that only people who serve get elected.

[retread]

8. Trust me on this, if you were 1Y for a "bad back" and you

really wanted to serve, you WOULD have served.

[trumad]

9. Ahhh but the question is....

did the majority of folks back in the late 60's really want to serve?

[retread]

10. For me it was 1966 and the answer was of course not!

Your resources and circumstance in life largely determined whether or not you even had that choice to make.

[Bandit]

5. It wouldn't have mattered ~ according to Delay the minorities had already

filled up all the vacancies so there was no room left for any white boys.

[trumad]

7. Damn..someone actually voted for the bribe....

HooooHaaaaaaa

[spanone]

6. I was 1-Y....it was a classification that you drew a high number

in the lottery. Would only go if war was declared. Remember, that wasn't really a war, just a police action.

[MercutioATC]

18. Thank You Thank You Thank You Thank You Thank You

Confirmation from a 1-Y that it was NOT a free pass to avoid Vietnam.

If you were the son of a wealthy guy and you didn't want to go to Vietnam, wouldn't you have come up with something better than a classification that could possibly get you drafted?

Look, folks...the military classified Howard Dean a 1-Y. That's a fact. The only debate is if he "made" that happen or not. Why, if you were attempting to avoid service, would you seek a classification that could, in fact, get you sent to Vietnam?

[karlschneider]

11. I confess, I lied!

:evilgrin:

[GregW]

12. You forgot one ...

(or should have modified option #5)

"Gone Skiing and enjoyed life because the One-Y deferment said you could not run for long distances, but said nothing about activities such as skiing."

[GregW]

13. I thought of another ...

"Decided to continue playing professional football even though your deferment was for a bad knee" *

* See Jack Kemp for details

[DemBones DemBones]

14. To repeat myself from the other thread,

Unless someone has done something illegal or unethical to avoid

military service, there's no issue.
I don't understand why Dean didn't mention having had student deferments, though. I can't imagine that a man his age would not have been called up long before his senior year of college if he had not had student deferments throughout college. I checked his web site and he graduated from Yale in 1971 so he was a freshman there in the 1967-68 school year. My husband graduated from college that year (the end of spring semester 1968) so I know very well what the draft situation was like then. Without a student deferment, as the joke went, you were soon on your way to the University of South Viet Nam. You couldn't drop out, flunk out, or drop below a full class load if you wanted to keep your deferment. How did Dean get through Yale without student deferments? Or did he just forget to mention that he had student deferments?


What do you guys think? I think he must have had student deferments. I knew too many guys who were drafted post haste after leaving school, whether dropping out, flunking out, or graduating. Draft boards kept tabs on students!

[JackSwift]

17. Since he managed to get into med school

I think it is safe to say he kept up his class load, and was also subject to being drafted as a doctor for quite some time after he graduated from med school. Maybe someone can fill us in, but the ending of the draft was for enlisted men, what about drafting doctors?

[DemBones DemBones]

20. Once he got his 1-Y, he wasn't subject to being drafted unless

there was a national emergency -- not in med school, not as a resident, not when practicing medicine. A 1-Y is almost as good as a 4-F.

[Cheesehead]

19. You forgot another - Cancelled plans to relocate to Canada

January 9, 1967 I failed the draft physical and was classified 1-Y. I had polio as a kid and it left me with a screwed up foot and ankle. Although it never really bothered me too much, it was good enough to keep me out of the military. I never really planned to leave the country, although I knew guys who did. I would have served had I passed, but as it turned out I didn't have to make that decision. I thanked my lucky stars, stayed in school (UW-Madison) and became politically radicalized. Here I am today, still protesting war. :hippie:

[trumad]

21. Night time kick