Tuesday, April 4, 2017

The MIlitary Draft remained in place from 1940 to 1973 because of World war II and the Cold War

All men had to register for the draft when they turned 18 until 1973. They still have to register but won't be drafted (at least right now). I think it another world war (if that ever happens it is quite likely that all girls and boys together will be drafted at the same time which will also be very different than before.

My experience turning 18 in 1966.

What had almost killed me between ages 10 to 15 saved my life in regard to not dying or being messed up for life like many my age from begin drafted and going to Viet Nam to fight in that war.

So, I was in Santa Fe, New Mexico and my parents were home in Glendale as I was in my senior year at a private boarding school in Santa Fe, from October 1965 until the end of May and Graduation in 1966.

So, my father called me just before my birthday and said, "When you are registering for the Draft you need to write something I'm telling you to say." I said "Okay" like most 18 year old boys who have decent parents that they trust. So, I did as my Dad said, The question on the Draft form that I got at the post office (which is where you get them likely even now) was "Do you need a medical deferment" and I checked this box "yes".

So, after I graduated and returned to Glendale my father took me to my old Doctor that I saw for childhood epilepsy that finisched when I was 15 because my skull grew enough to compensate likely for a childhood blow to the head that caused my night time seizures from age 10 to 15.

So, because of this doctors visit and because he had treated me for Childhood epilepsy he signed a form and I got what was then called a "4F" which then meant that I would only be called into military service through the draft if the U.S. mainland was under attack by an invading force.

Because that wasn't happening then (but it could be considered to be happening now) through cyber warfare harming everyone where they live, especially from Russia, it still wasn't happening then so I didn't have to serve in the military and instead went to college got jobs had girlfriends and got married and had my first child by age 26.

After I was 18 I watched friends and acquaintances go to viet Nam as soldiers and airmen and before that my cousin was in the Navy around Cuba during the Cuban Missile Crisis which he said was pretty scary as they all thought they were going to be nuked then or just blown out of the water around Cuba then.

So, as I watched friends get drafted or my best friend from high school in Glendale went to Glendale college where he got his jet engine certification  so he could join the Air Force so he wouldn't die on the front lines by being drafted  into the Infantry. So, he survived the war by fixing big and small jet engines in Thailand that flew over to Viet Nam for fighting and dropping bombs like Napalm and stuff like that.

However, my first wife was very against the war which sort of prevented my making friends with my friend when he got back because I had a son we were raising at the time. However, we connected and went to Yosemite and climbed Vernal Falls like we did with his family when we were 15 in our 40s once again. He died in 2010 likely from complications of being in the Viet Nam war to his health.

I was always more neutral about the war. I wasn't for it but understood it was happening but didn't think we had a very good reason to be there ever. So, i was more neutral than for or against the war. I mostly thought it was stupid so many people my age were dying and getting messed up for life there at the time.

I mostly thought our government was crazy sort of like now.

And this is also when confidence in government dropped from 75% to under 25% like right now here in the U.S. and stayed between 11% confidence to 25% confidence ever since. The people started not trusting our government because of Viet Nam and this has not changed since then at all.

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