Because of wrangling in Congress, the 1971 lottery drawing was delayed until August, which created a fairly highly anxious summer for those of us who graduated high school in 1971. I had already enrolled at the University of Michigan, and with lottery number 6, I knew I was almost certain to be drafted. With unusual speed for a US government agency, I received my pre-induction physical notice almost immediately. Fortunately, I was able to get the physical changed to Michigan, so had a little time to try to avoid being drafted.
Once in Ann Arbor, I had abundant access to some very good anti-war organizations, including draft counseling. I thought I had no hope, but in a session with a great counselor who had a notebook with a long list of things that could disqualify one from the draft, they read one that said “Lapses in Consciousness”, a problem I’d had since I was 5 years old! In the couple of weeks left before my scheduled physical in Detroit, my parents gathered several letters from doctors documenting that history.
So very early one morning, I boarded a bus in Ann Arbor bound for downtown Detroit for my pre-induction physical. If you’ve ever seen the physical scene in Alice’s Restaurant, you’ve seen pretty much what I experienced at mine. Even with my letters, I still had to go through the full process. I got to the point where they took a blood sample, and right on cue, I passed out.
After what seemed like forever being poked and prodded, I finally came to the exit door, and was finally asked if I had any doctor letters. Of course, I did, and was sent to a little room to the left, while almost everyone else went on to the right. Went into the room, and sat down in a row of chairs (felt a little like the Group W bench). Finally got called up to a counter where someone read over my letters. And so thanks to the counseling folks in Ann Arbor, I was official classified 4F – medically disqualified. And I still remember the person stamping a big red REJECTED across the front page of my paper work. I did manage not to whoop with the joy I felt.
So thanks to the good folks at the Ann Arbor anti-war draft counseling center, I was able to complete my education in Ann Arbor, and eventually become university professor.