Mr_Rockhead
Slouching toward Medicare
I’ve been away for several days and I swore I would read this entire thread before spouting off. However, I managed to get only this far (post #12) and I simply have to speak up. So, if this has already been covered, please forgive me for going over old ground.
First, for the sake of the all those who did not live through the times (but still think they have a fucking clue about what it may have been like), get this shit about deferments being a bad thing out of your head.
Sure, Cheney had deferments but so didn’t Kerry. Kerry was an anti-war activist and deferments were actually a badge of honor among that bunch.
Also, while I’m thinking of it and before I go on, if you really don’t know that John Kerry had a college draft deferment, please, I beg of you, stop right here and consider the possibility of maybe getting your information on such personal and volatile issues from BOTH sides. Because, let’s face it, that’s why they are issues in the first place (there are at least two sides to the story).
Anyway, as anyone growing up during the early sixties knows, Vietnam, the draft, and deferments were a main topic of conversation between all male, high-school juniors and seniors. Yep, Vietnam (and the draft) even superseded things like sports and girls. And, if you weren’t there, you don’t have a fucking clue as to what I am talking about.
So, to my liberal (but young) fellow posters, don’t be so fucking naive; almost EVERYONE was looking for a way to get out of the draft back then (including John Kerry).
And people like Cheney and Kerry were lucky to have the college deferment option (yes, John Kerry had at least one deferment). However, as usual, the poor and (lower) middle-class like me had no such options.
But, regardless, we were all cannon-fodder and we all knew it.
So, sure, John Kerry enlisted but only to avoid being drafted because his college deferments ran out. And, even then, John Kerry did not enlist in the navy. Nope, he enlisted in the navy reserves which, at that time, held about the same status as getting into the guards (like Bush). Don't forget, the role of the National Guard and Reserves were MUCH different back then.
Also, now that I’ve mentioned Bush, don’t kid yourselves either, Bush was never AWOL. Like Bush, Kerry also requested (and received) an early-out from his active military service to work in politics. So, fair is fair. If Bush was AWOL, so was Kerry.
Or, perhaps, another way of looking at is that both men did their duty honorably and then chose to serve their country by engaging in public service instead of military service.
Now, getting back on topic, the fact that Kerry decided to go into officer training and put himself on a path that almost guaranteed he would wind up in Vietnam is commendable. But, like most of us, this was not a guy who “heard his country’s call and answered it” (as all the paid, democrat, veteran’s organizers like to claim). Nope, this was just a guy who ran out of options (like so many others).
So let’s give it a rest. There was nothing wrong with people seeking deferments from the draft. It was commonplace and almost everyone who could - did (including John Kerry).
Indeed, deferments were the norm for those who were connected or could afford to get classified as something other than 1A.
Draft Board Classifications
The draft board classifications were how you were looked at during the draft. They showed what jobs registrants were eligible for. The classifications were:
I-A: This meant that registrants were available to fight in combat.
I-A-0: This meant that one was only eligible for non-combat military service.
I-C: This meant the registrant was already a member of the armed forces, the Coast and Geodetic Survey, or the Public Health Service.
I-D: This meant that if the registrant were a member of the armed reserves or a student in military training.
I-H: This meant the registrant have been drafted, but is not available for military service.
I-0: This meant that one were available for civilian work such as maintenance for national health, safety, or interest.
I-S: One's eligibility was postponed due to school. (John Kerry)
I-Y: Eligible for military service, but during war is only qualified for military or national emergency.
I-W: Available for performing civilian work contributing to the maintenance for national health, safety, or interest.
II-A: Eligibility was postponed due to civilian occupation.
ll-C: Eligibility was postponed due to agricultural occupation.
ll-D: Eligibility was postponed due to study for the ministry.
ll-S: Eligibility was postponed due to active study. (John Kerry)
lll-A: Eligibility was postponed because one had a child or being drafted would harm the dependents.
lV-A: Registrant has been to war or had a son who survived it.
lV-B: Eligibility postponed due to being an official by law.
IV-C: Registrant is an Alien.
IV-D: "Minister of religion or divinity student."1
IV-F: Not eligible for any military service.
IV-G: Exempt from service because of a surviving son or brother.
IV-W: Registrant who has completed civilian work for the Armed Forces.
V-A: Registrant is over the liability age for military service.
And, by the way, those “swift boat liars” (as you like to claim) served just as honorably and were just as decorated as LTJG Kerry.
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