I've never quite understood how Orange Julius Caesar dodged the draft by submitting a letter from his doctor

[generalbetrayus]

saying he had bone spurs.

I guess my own history with my draft board was similar in some ways, but the end result was quite different. I was chronically ill and underweight as a young teenager and still underweight as an older teenager. When I told my doctor that I had received a notice to report for my draft physical in October of 1972, his immediate response was, "They don't want you!" My doctor obtained his medical degree while serving in the army during World War II and served on draft boards. He also wrote me a letter which I presented at my draft physical, but my draft board either never received it or ignored it.

Of course, my draft board went ahead and classified me 1-A despite the fact I also failed the hearing test. (And I was not faking a hearing loss. I first tested with a hearing loss in the normal hearing range at age 7.) One day after receiving a notice in the mail in early January of 1973 stating that I was classified 1-A, I received another notice that I was classified 1-H ( a temporary deferment) because my draft board finally noticed that I was still wearing orthodontic braces, which I knew the army did not want to deal with as written policy. All of this turmoil became a dead issue when Nixon ended the draft in late January of 1973.

I've always felt that OJC's bone spurs deferment had more to do with money under the table than any letter from his doctor.

[enid602]

1. Fred

The doctor who signed the waiver was a tenant of Fred Trump.

[enigmania]

2. Someone should name and shame!

[Doodley]

3. Trump had the most tremendous bone spurs like the world had never seen.

[Johonny]

4. Fortunate Son

Last edited Fri Jun 13, 2025, 07:23 PM - Edit history (1)

It's not like it was a huge secret what the wealthy were doing to avoid the draft.

[rsdsharp]

5. Everyone in the 1973 draft class was classified 1-H, and none were drafted.

You were apparently in the draft class of 1972, but I wonder if the decision for the ’73 class had an impact on your reclassification.

[generalbetrayus]

18. I doubt it. My reclassification came several weeks before Nixon called off the draft in late January of 1973,

and the notice was very specific as to the reason.

[AverageOldGuy]

6. Thank you

Thank you for doing the right thing even though it may not have been what you wanted to do.

I would have been proud to serve with you.

Army, 1967-1995.

[generalbetrayus]

19. Thank YOU, AverageOldGuy. My older brother flew a Navy attack bomber over Hanoi for six weeks in January of 1972.

He said that he never understood why he was flying those missions because all he was doing was making the rubble bounce. He went on to put in 20 years in the Navy before retiring.
I had no quarrel with the military, having grown up in Washington, D. C. surrounded by military families. My dad did not serve in World War II because he had 20/200 vision in one eye and 20/100 vision in the other. He also had a federal government job that was considered essential. My mother's brother took shrapnel to his head in the Pacific during World War II and did not even remember being there. He spent the rest of his life with a metal plate in his head and suffering from epilepsy. It's just that my doctor was correct - I really was physically unfit for service.

[Warpy]

7. Super rich daddy + crooked doctor

The draft board didn't want to have to deal with a bunch of lawsuits filed by super rich daddy Besides, a 5 minute interview with him would have showed the military a guy they did not need, no matter how desperate they got for junior officers.

[B.See]

8. It's called PRIVILEGE. The thing

that people like Trump believe they are DUE, but the rest of us aren't.

[GiqueCee]

9. When I went for my draft physical in April of '66...

... I got a 1Y because I was too light for my height. Hard to believe, looking at me now ( I've dropped 60+ pounds!) Then I got a high lottery number.
I thought sure I was headed for 'Nam, but I lucked out. Lotta friends didn't.

[generalbetrayus]

17. I was # 5 in the draft lottery. My ass was grass if not for the deferment.

[GiqueCee]

22. Mine was 300+ something...

... Luck of the draw.

[Tree Lady]

10. $$$$$$$

[twodogsbarking]

11. It was the system. It was fucked up. In many ways.

[Hekate]

12. The doc in question was a tenant of Fred Trump's, so quid for office rent met pro quo for sonny-boy

[usonian]

13. I sat next to a guy at the processing place.

He said he had a heart condition, and a few other debilitating things I forgot.

I told him to see a doctor.

He replied: "I AM a doctor"

I was too fucking healthy to pull any wool, so I ended up serving. This year marks 50 years since I finished my enlistment and started my career mostly in aerospace, with some crazy detours into education, computing, sales, finance, quirky startups and other stuff I forgot.

Where Vulgar the Flatulent and I differ is that I made an honest living, and service buddies, employers as well as colleagues, family and friends, were all better off for my work and trust. And that is good and satisfying.

[JPK]

14. I was also reclassified as 1H

My dad died while on active duty in 1968 and I was the sole surviving male of my family. All my cousins with my last name were female. I was initially 1A but I later received a letter from the SS notifying me of my reclassification. That second letter scared the crap out of me until I read it.

[moniss]

15. One of the ills of the draft was how prone they were to corruption.

There truly needs to be more spotlight shown on those times.

[Evolve Dammit]

16. Fred greased his palm. Don't forget the Doc whose office was raided by 45's goons and siezed all his med records.

[keep_left]

21. I remember that...Dr Harold Bornstein.

"Trump’s Former Doctor Says Office Was Raided and Files Seized"

https://www.nytimes.com/2018/05/01/us/politics/trump-doctor-harold-bornstein.html

[Evolve Dammit]

23. Yes. Said he "felt raped."

[Igel]

20. Another recent president's been proud of his athleticism.

Football and lifeguard. Trump got a friggin' 4 deferments! The bastid!

Now, imagine an asthma attack while running down the field or actually helping somebody at risk of going under.

Still, this president--let's call him a hypothetical president--got a deferment for asthma. And this purely hypothetical paragon of athleticism got 5 deferments. Except this wasn't a hypothetical president. Just ... one that's really inconvenient to know some facts about.

A doctor wrote a note for each athlete or there was a student waiver. Like a doctor can write a note for a 504 with consequences for a school, or for a concussion, or for all sorts of things. Don't know how many times one of my HS students were exempted from tests or work that involved a screen--and spent all the exempt time ignoring the paper review still being worked on because, well, "extended time" was necessary, but instead scrolled and texted on a cell phone.

Seriously. Goose. Gander. If what they do is bad, when "we" do the same it's no better.

If you can find advantage, you take it--that's a human thing. We all want to avoid unpleasantness, and Vietnam, for the US military, was chock-full of unpleasantness. (Full disclosure: I'm old enough and young enough to be in that donut hole where I never had to register for the draft; at the same time, my big brother volunteered for the air force in '66 because he figured his number would be called and he'd have some say about where he was placed ... He chose Air Force. But he was royally pissed when he was told he wouldn't have been drafted. Still, it (a) gave him a profitable, marketable, employable skill ... He was an airplane mechanic, meaning he also machined parts ... And it got him settled 2500 miles away from a toxic family and in a place where he met his wife and established his own.)

[Canada Kid]

24. I ain't no fortunate one...

Donald Trump beat the draft because he couldn't run as he had a silver spoon shoved up his ass!