This is old history but still bugs me when 59,000 young men mostly draftee were sent to Viet Nam but Terry Bradshaw, Cassius Clay, :Sly Stalone evaded the draft and no one says squat.
2007-10-25 16:22:37 · 8 answers · asked by Anonymous in Politics & Government ➔ Military
2,600,000 men went to VietNam.
I would guess that most Pro sports figures were married, had children and the possibility that they had injuries that placed them at less than 1A would be high. They don't hand out cortisone shots in the field. Some may have been drafted or volunteered prior to becoming famous. There was not blanket exemption. Many did take advantage of legal exemptions for school, marriage and children.
The link below is a quick read.
Only 38% of draftees between 65 and 73 actually set foot in VietNam. Leaving 62% to be volunteers. They did account for 30% of the casualties.
I had 3 cousins go, all by choice. 1 was an engineer and came back in one piece. One was a Marine shot in the arm while on perimeter guard by a cherry Marine Lt. SSG Larry Houston Cooke 173rd AB was just starting his 2nd tour when KIA in Bihn Dihn 19 APR 69.
Never heard their parents complain about who was or was not involved.
2007-10-25 17:16:12 · answer #1 · answered by Stand-up philosopher. It's good to be the King 7 · 2⤊ 0⤋
Cassius Clay didn't avoid the draft...he refused to serve when drafted. For that, he wnt to jail, justifiably so.
Suggest you research how may sports figures and actors served in WW 2 and Korea...bet the current Hollywood leftie crowd would run away to avoid ANY form of defending this country !
Remember Rocky Blier {sic ?} from the Steelers...he went to Nam and was wounded !
2007-10-25 16:31:17 · answer #2 · answered by commanderbuck383 5 · 3⤊ 0⤋
They wern't extempt from the draft.
People seem to think that every male was drafted during the vietnam years,
When only about 10% of the men draft age, were actually drafted.
The Steelers fullback was drafted and wounded in vietnam.
Cassius Clay was drafted, but claimed consenious ojector status, was convicted and sent to jail.
2007-10-25 17:19:35 · answer #3 · answered by jeeper_peeper321 7 · 4⤊ 0⤋
Cassius Clay is the original name that Mohamed Ali had before he became a Muslim. He was not exempt and was fined and suspended for not reporting for his physical and it cost him the prime years of his boxing career. A number of people were either deferred for health or education reasons during the draft and some enlisted in the Guard or Reserves (President Bush being one of them). There were a number of college athletes who were drafted if they dropped out of college for more than a semester one of them being Rocky Blier who later played for the Pittsburgh Steelers with Bradshaw if I remember right. There were many that could pay to go to college, hire lawyers to get them out of it, or had the political influence to get them deferred. That's why you sometimes here it referred to as a poormans war or one that was fought by the poorman. You also have to remember that they did not draft everyone and that it was based on your birth-date and your lottery number, the state you where registered in, and its population in proportion to every other state's population. I had a lottery number of 62 and they where on 76 when I was drafted in my state and spent thirty-four years in the military.
2007-10-25 16:53:52 · answer #4 · answered by samuraiwarrior_98 7 · 3⤊ 0⤋
This is untrue.
Cassius Clay refused to be drafted to fight people he had no quarrel with for the benefit of people who had always hated him.
This cost him his world championship title which he regained after the war but he gained the respect of a lot of people.
I always thought Stallone was just an "actor".
2007-10-25 18:37:19 · answer #5 · answered by brainstorm 7 · 1⤊ 0⤋
I don't know about sports figures...never really had any at the time..
When we are drafted your pretty much in shock..or I was and I was not happy about it.
But I was no better than anyone else so I went and ended up in Vietnam.
I'm sure there are not very many sons from those guys in DC who have their name on the Vietnam wall.
I know there was a General who had a son KIA in Vietnam but can't recall his name.
2007-10-25 17:53:29 · answer #6 · answered by Jerry B 4 · 1⤊ 0⤋
Clay went to prison and was stripped of his title. Stallone is a sports figure???? If you want to look for draft dodgers, look no further than the Republican Party.
Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-KY - did not serve
Senate Assistant Minority Leader Trent Lott, R-MI - avoided the draft, did not serve.
Senate Republican Conference Chairman Jon Kyl, R-AZ - did not serve.
National Republican Senatorial Committee Chair John Ensign, R-NV - did not serve.
House Minority Leader John Boehner, R-OH - did not serve.
House Minority Whip Roy Blunt, R-MO - did not serve.
House Republican Conerence Chair Adam Putnam, R-FL - did not serve.
House Republican Policy Committee Thaddeus McCotter, R-MI - did not serve.
National Republican Congressional Committee Chair Tom Cole, R-OK - did not serve.
Former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani - did not serve.
Former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney - did not serve in the military but did serve the Mormon Church on a 30-month mission to France.
Former Senator Fred Thompson - did not serve.
Former Speaker of the House Dennis Hastert - avoided the draft, did not serve.
Former House Majority Leader Dick Armey - avoided the draft, did not serve.
Former House Majority Leader Tom Delay - avoided the draft, did not serve
Former House Majority Whip Roy Blunt - did not serve
Former Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist - did not serve.
Rick Santorum, R-PA, formerly third ranking Republican in the Senate - did not serve.
George Felix Allen, former Republican Senator from Virginia - a supporter of Nixon and the Vietnam war, did not serve.
VP Cheney - several deferments , the last by marriage (in his own words, "had other priorities than military service")
Former Att'y Gen. John Ashcroft - did not serve - received seven deferment to teach business ed at SW Missouri State
Jeb Bush, Florida Governor - did not serve.
Karl Rove - avoided the draft, did not serve
Former Speaker Newt Gingrich - avoided the draft, did not serve
"B-1" Bob Dornan - avoided Korean War combat duty by enrolling in college acting classes (Orange County Weekly article). Enlisted only after the fighting was over in Korea.
Phil Gramm - avoided the draft, did not serve, four (?) student deferments
And don't forget Bill Kristol, Elliott Abrams, Pat Buchanan, Jack Kemp, Vin Weber, George Will, Ken Starr and Rush Limbaugh
2007-10-25 17:27:24 · answer #7 · answered by Daniel E 4 · 1⤊ 2⤋
Cassius Clay/Muhammed Ali, the one and only draft resister worthy of respect.
Rather than dodge the draft by running to Canada, or pretending to sign up for ROTC, he simply said "no" and went to prison.
He's the only draft dodger who didn't also dodge the consequences of his decision.
2007-10-25 17:00:31 · answer #8 · answered by open4one 7 · 3⤊ 1⤋