Clyde Lane

Huntingdon, Pennsylvania - United States Navy

My experience with the military draft is an example of just how random it could be.  I opposed the Vietnam War and was deferred while attending college, but after graduating I extended my deferment by taking an elementary teaching position in the public school.  I stuck it out for the whole year, but decided taking my chances with the draft would be on par with taking my chances in the sixth grade classroom.

As I applied for new jobs, my prospective employers noticed I was an 1-A, medical deferment.  I had no clue why this would have been, but was content to not ask questions.  It seems ludicrous today, but, in 1969, employers could ask about a disability an employee may have.  I made inquiries at the local draft board, and lo and behold a mistake had been made.  I went for my examination when I had mononucleosis, and that had translated, mistakenly, as a medical deferment.  I was soon employed and eligible for the draft.

The first lottery drawing was not completely random since the balls used to pick the dates and were not mixed completely.  December birthdays were disproportionately picked, and I had a choice to either volunteer or to be drafted.  I chose what I thought would be safest in wartime and volunteered for the Navy.  My service in the Navy was uneventful, but the path to that service was unexpected.