Ed Rasimus wrote:

snip

If he aws gay and admitted it he didn;t go. But weren't defferments
for college eventually discontinued (with existing ones grandfathered)?
I thought that was the basis for the 'unrest' on the college campuses.

Nope. Deferments for college continued throughout the war. You
extended your 2-S deferment if you went to graduate school. You
remained deferred if you went into selected professions such as
teaching--which may account for the pacifist left-wing bias found in
so many educators today.


I beg to differ with the gentleman. In my senior year (1968), routine graduate school deferments ended. I
remember it well because of the widespread panic that little action caused among the sons of the well heeled I
associated with.

I had neither the grades or inclination for graduate school, so I went ahead and applied for Navy OCS. When I
applied, before the change in policy, the recruiters told me, "Just let me know when you want to come take the
tests". After the policy change, the AF and Navy recruiters were swamped with applications from college seniors.
A six month waiting list JUST TO TAKE THE TESTS was very scary to a college senior less than four months from
graduation.

I was accepted, was sworn in on May 1, and opened my mailbox upon my return to school to find my notice to report
for draft physical. I politely declined, but it wasn't much of a victory.

1966 was very different from 1966 and even more different from 1964.

BTW, I applied to fly for the Navy (AVROC) during by sophomore year. The docs rejected me, so it's moot.
However, I don't recall that the "issue" of VietNam even entered my thoughts at that time. Teenage stupidity and
lack of situational awareness surely contributed to that omission, but I think I was pretty typical.

Bob McKellar, who nonetheless thinks going into the Navy was the second best thing he ever did, although that
realization took a long time to arrive.

BTW, Ed, I found parts of your excellent book a more telling indictment of some aspects of the war than a lot of
what Kerry said. ( See page 181 )