My military career was not real lengthy. Shortly after graduating high school in the Spring of 1960, a friend of mine and I enlisted in the Air Force. Not long after that we were told to go to Abilene, spend the night, and get up the next morning and get ready to leave for basic training, and that’s exactly what we did.
We had a final interview the next morning as everyone going into the military does. It was basically just questions. Have you ever had this? Have you ever done this? You know, it’s monotonous, you just say “no” every time – which I did, until they got to the word – asthma. The Marine sergeant asked me, “Have you ever had a history of asthma?” Well, “Yes.” Before I could say another word, he wrote in big letters on my sheet, 4-F. I said, “What’s going on?” He said “If you have any history of asthma, you don’t qualify for the Air Force. You can join the Army, the Marines, the Navy, but no Air Force.”
Well, since my friend was going in the Air Force and we were going in together, I was depressed. So, I told the sergeant, “Let me think about it,” and I called home. I got on the bus and came back to Brownwood. My goal of being in the military had taken a pretty big hit.
Militarily, I should have been re-classified 1-A (eligible for the draft) but when my card showed up in the mail it was 4-F instead. About a month later I got a job at KBWD radio. A few months after that I got married. About a year after that I had a daughter. In each of these steps I should have gotten a re-classification notice; 2-A for the marriage and 3-A for the child. But, every time I was incorrectly classified 4-F. This coasted along for about three years. Never heard a word until I got a letter in the mail. “Mr. Huston, we have found discrepancies in your draft status. You need to report to the draft board on this date” and so I did. They told me that I should have been classified 1A. In other words, I was 4F for the Air Force but 1A in everything else. They had misclassified me but I was the one getting chewed out. I finally said, “I think this is your problem, not mine” and I left.
So, with a wife and child I was officially re-classified 3-A. The war in Viet Nam was going very strong at this time and I knew they were going to have to go through a lot of people before they got to the 3A’s. But eventually they started the lottery and it didn’t matter what you were classified as, if they picked your name, you went. The lottery lasted several years but my name was never drawn.
It was strange back in that time because I knew a lot of people, and even had a handful of friends, who were bound and determined that they were not going to war. They weren’t going to Viet Nam. They called them “draft dodgers.” Some of them went to Canada. Some of them found other means to stay out of the military. I, of course, at one time, really wanted to go into the military. I wanted to go, but I couldn’t. Then, I didn’t want to go and ended up not having to.
Viet Nam was a terrible war. I even had a friend who was killed in Viet Nam. I had a lot of friends whose lives were changed forever in Viet Nam. I’m thankful that many didn’t have to go. I wish no one would have had to.
Until next time, so long everybody.
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‘Out of the Box’ with Dallas Huston is published each Monday morning at BrownwoodNews.com. Dallas was the radio voice of the Brownwood Lions and Howard Payne Yellow Jackets for more than 55 years. He currently is Pastor of Center City Baptist Church and hosts a Men’s Bible Study in Brownwood on Monday evenings. Your comments are welcome at [email protected].