As a child I had suspected Rheumatic Fever which is an inflammatory disease that can develop after a bout with strep throat or scarlet fever. The disease can affect heart valves, joints, skin, and brain. Today it is treated with antibiotics which we didn't have when I was 7 and in 2nd grade in 1949. I was not allowed to finish 2nd grade at the Catholic grade school in Owatonna, MN because the current thought of the day was to minimize damage to the body by laying in bed!! This I did for the last 2 weeks of the school year and for most of the summer. In fact, I even took Catholic First Communion in bed.
Our family moved to Kasson, MN from Owatonna in about 1950. In later years, Dr. Affeldt, the local doctor there, gave me a physical examination when I was in 7th grade because I needed it to play some sports. He listened very carefully to my heart, moved his stethoscope around and listened some more.
Then he sat quietly in his chair for a moment inhaling smoke from a lit cigarette. He appeared very professional with his head of grey hair and white coat but he looked exhausted from a busy day. He took a couple more puffs as he looked over my chart. (I can still see in my mind's eye, the white smoke rising in his office that day.) Finally he said to mom who was with me, that he heard a murmur which could be residual from my suspected Rheumatic Fever. He recommended that I either not play sports or do so very carefully. A subsequent full examination by the Mayo Clinic Doctors in Rochester, MN revealed that they also heard the murmur but that it was probably congenital and not much to worry about at my age. After all, many people had a slight murmur.
So there I was with two conflicting views and no cardiac ultrasound in those days, to pinpoint the location and extent of the defect. After this diagnosis, I never did feel confident in exerting myself in football or basketball or track for fear of making my heart worse, so I quit all sports early in the seasons and resigned myself to be the "water boy" or "gofer" person during the games.
Subsequently, I had programmed myself to be afraid of any kind of prolonged physical exertion. I reasoned that when I got very tired running a four-man relay in track, it was due to my compromised heart rather than my lack of training!
In the end, I believed I would never have the physical stamina for the military service. I also believed I was too emotionally fragile to endure all that was necessary to make a good military man. I was young and afraid to more forward. Fortunately there were other men who weren't!
I did register with the Selective Service within 30 days on either side of my 18th birthday as required. A photo of my card is below:
There is no draft now in 2010 but if there were, the Classifications would be those shown below according to a US Government website
1-A - available immediately for military service.
1-O Conscientious Objector- conscientiously opposed to both types (combatant and non-combatant) of military training and service - fulfills his service obligation as a civilian alternative service worker.
1-A-O Conscientious Objector - conscientiously opposed to training and military service requiring the use of arms - fulfills his service obligation in a noncombatant position within the military.
2-D Ministerial Students - deferred from military service.
3-A Hardship Deferment - deferred from military service because service would cause hardship upon his family.
4-C Alien or Dual National - sometimes exempt from military service.
4-D Ministers of Religion - exempted from military service.
Student Postponements - a college student may have his induction postponed until he finishes the current semester or, if a senior, the end of the academic year. A high school student may have his induction postponed until he graduates or until he reaches age 20. Appealing a Classification - A man may appeal his classification to a Selective Service Appeal Board.
Even had I been 1-A, I would have missed the 1969 and later Vietnam lottery because I was born in 1942 and the lottery started with birthdays in 1944. The lottery was a random method of choosing who would be inducted for duty. The following chart is from another government website.
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Fortunately Larry came back home from Vietnam and we have been exchanging Christmas greetings since.
My wife Rose, born in 1948 had several friends who went off to the Vietnam war which had begun to ramp up in 1965. Not all came back.
I never thought much about missing the draft, Vietnam war and possible death. I should have been more thankful at the time!
