Dylan drafted?
Sage
I'm a somewhat new member of this newsgroup. I have a big question that
I can't seem to figure out:
Why did Bob Dylan never go to Vietnam? He was only 27 at the height of
the war in 1968, and if Muhammed Ali was draftable then so was Bob. Did
he have a special exemption, health problem or something?
Anyone who knows the answer to this please respond.
Thanks,
Sage V.H.
Steve T
What was the selection process like, was it random sampling, like jury duty,
or was it simply everybody at a suitable age?
If it's random, I'm sure someone would have made sure that Muhammad Ali was
selected, being a very outspoken,successful black person from Louisiana, you
can bet he pissed allot of people off, people with influence, and with say
in who gets drafted. But it's not like Bob did not rattle the establishment
too.
Could it be anything to do with him being Jewish, maybe only a limited
amount could be drafted from religious minority's could be selected?
I'm also sure Albert Grossman, knew allot of people with influence, perhaps
he, used some of that influence to make sure Bob was not selected?
"Sage" <exis...@worldweary.net> wrote in message
news:3B5688D7...@worldweary.net...
keith.smith11
answer was so obvious!
"Steve T" <steven....@eircom.net> wrote in message
news:wcx57.17760$Fk7.1...@news.indigo.ie...
Ellen
suspect he was actually older than the cutoff.
"keith.smith11" <keith....@ntlworld.com> wrote in message
news:rOx57.1037$v2....@news11-gui.server.ntli.net...
Alan Fraser
wrote:
>I'm not positive, but during the years when people were being drafted, I
>suspect he was actually older than the cutoff.
http://www.edlis.org/twice/threads/draft_status.html
Also remember Bob had very poor eyesight. There's no recorded evidence
that he was ever called for the draft or that Grossman was involved in
getting him out of it.
Alan
Glenn Cooper
"If my thought dreams could be seen ..."
Glenn C.
Thomas
"Sage" <exis...@worldweary.net> wrote in message
news:3B5688D7...@worldweary.net...
>
>
kknoll
events in Vietnam and had a couple of friends drafted, though luckily
none killed. It was a lottery (remember Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy: "his
number came up and he was called to the draft"). Every man under a
certain age, I think it was 30, was issued a number, I think between
one and 100. Younger people were sent the card when they turned 18
(ever heard of people burning their draft cards). If you were in
college and passing, you were sometimes able to wiggle out of it. The
lower the number, the more likely it was that you were going to get
drafted, but even a number one didn't mean it was a sure thing.
Remember, most kids didn't go to Nam. There is never a mention of
Dylan getting called, so it is unlikely his eyesight was a factor
(though it would have been, had he been called).
"Thomas" <thomas...@hotmail.com> wrote in message news:<9j6dhs$afi$1...@oslo-nntp.eunet.no>...
Silvio
>
> "Sage" <exis...@worldweary.net> wrote in message
> news:3B5688D7...@worldweary.net...
> >
> >
> > I'm a somewhat new member of this newsgroup. I have a big question that
> > I can't seem to figure out:
> >
> > Why did Bob Dylan never go to Vietnam? He was only 27 at the height of
> > the war in 1968, and if Muhammed Ali was draftable then so was Bob. Did
> > he have a special exemption, health problem or something?
> >
> >
Rich men usually dont go to war, and bob dylan was a very rich and a
famous person in 1968, and he was not black, like cassius clay.. most
of the people drafted for vietnam were black people
Brandy
Sage <exis...@worldweary.net> wrote in message news:<3B5688D7...@worldweary.net>...
nates
Yojimbug
too old in the sixties.
yo
Peter Stone Brown
"Yojimbug" <yoji...@aol.com> wrote in message
news:20010719112213...@ng-mp1.aol.com...
> there is a minimum height requirement! bob's very short. he certainly
wasn't
> too old in the sixties.
>
>
he easily would have made the height requirement.
--
"Where the angels' voices whisper to the souls of previous times." --Bob
Dylan
Peter Stone Brown
e-mail: ps...@earthlink.net
http://store.yahoo.com/tangible-music/petstonbrowi.html
carolyn cain
Steve wrote:
>That's a brilliant question! and I hope someone
>posts the answer What was the selection process
>like, was it random sampling, like jury duty, or was it
>simply everybody at a suitable age?
General information concerning the draft (not pertinent to anyone
personally). As I recall, only Army drafted and many "volunteered" for
other branches as soon as they knew the Army was fast on their heels.
Army was the 'least particular' as far as qualifications were concerned
at that time so you could be turned down by other branches yet still
drafted.
Selection was based on age, marital status, number of dependents,
whether you were an only son, and educational endeavors...or so we were
told by persons in uniform at the time. In '64 it was stated by an Army
officer (I never tracked him for accuracy) that marital status and
educational endeavors were no longer applicable...oh, also, prior
service made one inelligible for the draft.
I don't recall if the split was 3/3 for the Army at that time but, if
so, you did three years active duty and three more inactive....Navy was
4/2 and inactive duty persons could be recalled to service once war or
threat thereof was established. You did not have to have reached 18 to
volunteer....many went in at 17 and, at earlier times were allowed to
sign up even younger. Other branches required a diploma, Army did not.
Females were allowed into some positions but it was not until '74 they
gained anything remotely close to equal status in military branches.
Until that time they were not allowed to claim dependents (as males did)
thus, could not receive equal pay for equal performance. In Navy terms,
this was a pay cut of $145. and up, per month, for females and they were
required to sign over custody of their children in order to enter active
duty. They, of course, could not be drafted. If they had children
while in service, sign over of custody was still mandatory. This was
told to me by an Army recruiting officer.
Hope this fills in some gaps for you.
Karen Cain
byrdsfan
Joe Cliburn
Peter Stone Brown wrote:
>
> "Yojimbug" <yoji...@aol.com> wrote in message
> news:20010719112213...@ng-mp1.aol.com...
> > there is a minimum height requirement! bob's very short. he certainly
> wasn't
> > too old in the sixties.
> >
> >
>
> he easily would have made the height requirement.
Bob was drafted by the Cleveland Browns in 1967 but suffered a career ending
neck injury during training camp. Passed it off as a motorcycle accident...
Joe
--
"Obviously, I'm not an IBM computer any more than I'm an ashtray."
- Dylan
Howard Mirowitz
"Alan Fraser" <alan....@cwcom.net> wrote in message
news:udddltospdffr3oa1...@4ax.com...
> On Thu, 19 Jul 2001 09:42:04 GMT, "Ellen" <forev...@verizon.net>
> wrote:
>
> >I'm not positive, but during the years when people were being drafted, I
> >suspect he was actually older than the cutoff.
>
> http://www.edlis.org/twice/threads/draft_status.html
>
> Also remember Bob had very poor eyesight. There's no recorded evidence
> that he was ever called for the draft or that Grossman was involved in
> getting him out of it.
>
> Alan
>
I thought Sounes' book implies that Grossman did do something to get him out
of it. (Probably threatened to have him write songs about the Army.)
H.
Peter Stone Brown
"Silvio" <silly_...@yahoo.com> wrote in message
news:e50b5d6d.01071...@posting.google.com...
They didn't take anyone over 26 actually and by then Dylan was a father with
a few kids, not to mention he'd (possibly) broken some vertabre in his neck.
Lee...@aol.com
> he'd (possibly) broken some vertabre in his neck.
Yes, he probably lied when he spoke about his broken vertabrae, probably
just to get sympathy from the interviewer.
Joe Shipman
> a few kids, not to mention he'd (possibly) broken some vertabre in his neck.
You got that right. The draft didn't come into full swing until 1967
when Bob was already past his 26th birthday, and he had a wife and 2
kids by then anyway.
Muhammad Ali (who was from Louisville (Kentucky), not Louisiana like a
poster earlier on this thread said) was a year younger so he
qualified. He was a conscientious objector but they still gave him a
hard time, though he eventually won a unanimous decision from the
Supreme Court. The draft itself didn't discriminate between whites
and blacks but whites were better at avoiding it because they were
more able to get into colleges or flee to other countries.
Given Dylan's history of protest it would have been a ridiculous
mistake to draft him -- Ali actually surprised them when he objected,
since he'd acted patriotic when he won the Olympic Gold Medal in 1960.
(And he WAS patriotic, despite his objections to the war.)
Linn Carpenter
>
most
> of the people drafted for vietnam were black people
This really isn't true. The draft was done by lottery and I don't
believe there was any differentiation between blacks and whites when
picking the numbers. As someone else pointed out, though, there may
have been more white draft dodgers than black.
According to statistics, 88.4% of the men who actually served in Vietnam
were Caucasian; 10.6% were black; 1% belonged to other races. Of all
those who served, about 25% were draftees.
Those and other stats on the Vietnam war can be found here:
http://web.meganet.net/kman/nfv6.htm
Linn
Delia
"Linn Carpenter" <new...@home.com> wrote in message
news:3B599D2D...@home.com...
A friend of mine came from a small town in Nevada (which shall remain
nameless). He said that when it came time to get their physicals, he and
all the other white young men were examined by local doctors and turned out
to have various ailments that led to them being classified 4-F. The black
men coincidentally turned out to be perfectly fit and thus eligible for the
draft.
Delia
kbes...@gmail.com
Will Dockery
> I'm pretty sure that if the person being drafted is the only male in the family that can carry on the family name, they are exempt. I'm not sure if that was the case with Mr. Bob Dylan.
NancyGene
> Why did Bob Dylan never go to Vietnam? He was only 27 at the height of
> the war in 1968, and if Muhammed Ali was draftable then so was Bob. Did
> he have a special exemption, health problem or something?
Just Walkin'
Dave's a cool cat and a good dad.
mary...@gmail.com
> I'm a somewhat new member of this newsgroup. I have a big question that
> I can't seem to figure out:
>
> the war in 1968, and if Muhammed Ali was draftable then so was Bob. Did
> he have a special exemption, health problem or something?
>
>
> Thanks,
>
> Sage V.H.
