Word: draft
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Dates: during 1970-1979
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...same night that I met Larry I was introduced to Dave. Dave was also a sophomore. By coincidence they had the same birthday and consequently the same lottery number. But while Larry escaped by fasting, Dave literally ate his way out of the draft...
...sophomore at a small alternative college in Oregon, Larry was tall, bearded, and thin. Like a more famous Oregonian, Bill Walton, he often wore a wool cap, flannel shirt, and blue jeans--lumberjack garb. Nineteen-year old Larry had just had his draft physical the week before...
...half of this range. But Dave had a history of high blood pressure, and his diet had made it worse. "The day before the physical, my blood pressure was 160. Then, just before I went, I took a No-Doz tablet to make them think I was dying." The draft board held Dave for 24 hours, a drug-detection measure he hadn't anticipated; but fortunately for him, his blood pressure remained high...
...EXPLOITS of Larry and Dave have a comical tone, as if the draft were a game for college kids to play, a challenge, like climbing up Mem Hall to hang jack o'lanterns on Halloween. In fact, the draft was not such a serious business in 1972, an election year, when the number of inducted dropped from 96,000 to 50,000, and most of those who were drafted never saw Viet Nam. But in the years before, the Army's famous "greetings" announcement changed a lot of lives, even in the sheltered middle class...
...remember my own trip to Draft Board Number 10 in Mount Vernon, New York, to register in 1972. I checked the conscientious objector slot with a mixture of pride and trepidation. Though the preliminary form committed me to nothing, I felt as if I had sealed my fate. Because I was born a Quaker, my religion provided an unusual advantage for getting approval for C.O. status. On the other hand, my draft board had a great deal of trouble filling its quota, and did not look kindly on conscientious objectors as a result...