From: Phil Osborn (philosborn2001@yahoo.com)
Date: Thu Sep 05 2002 - 19:40:42 MDT
The "lady" who ran the draft board in Rome, Georgia
had her own agenda, as did many others who volunteered
themselves into that position. She was former career
military - non-com.
I graduated from college (UGA-Athens,GA) just in time
to luck out on the lottery, which was based on one's
date of birth. Imagine my surprise then to get a
letter from the Rome draft board instructing me to
show up there. So I did, not wanting to go to jail.
Many of my high-school friends were also there, of
course.
There were two guys whose legal residence was out of
state, who were in college in Rome, itself. The Rome
draft board had no authority over them, yet somehow
this lady had found them and summoned them. Both of
them had identical circumstances, but one had long
hair.
I watched and heard her tell the short-hair, ~"Oh, I'm
so sorry. It's clear that a mistake has been made.
Don't worry yourself. I'll just fix the paperwork for
you. You just go home now."
She told the long-hair, ~"Oh, I'm so sorry. It's clear
that a mistake has been made. But, unfortunately,
since the paperwork has already been done, you'll
still have to go in for your physical."
Shortly thereafter, she looked straight at me and,
staring into my eyes, smiled sweetly and asked, "now
is there anyone here whose lottery number is over
XXX?"
I immediately answered, "Yes, my number is 252 (well
over whatever the limit was), and I have my birth
certificate to prove it."
She smiled sweetly and, looking at my longish hair and
mustache, told me that she was so sorry, but since the
paperwork was done (by her, of course) I would just
have to go take my physical anyway.
I found out later that a couple guys had gone to court
and proven that they were not eligible and that she
had known that and created the paperwork to draft them
anyway.
So, I went for my physical, which I flunked due to an
ear infection. None of the army people were the least
bit interested in the fact that I was not legally
eligible to begin with. When I got my second summons,
I went to the Athens Draft Board and asked their
advice. They took one look and told me to transfer
authority to them and they would handle it, which was
the end of the problems for me.
In Athens, there was a very strong anti-war movement.
However, the motives of the organizers were far from
pure. The local SDS chapter was not just anti-war.
Most of them were pro-VietCong and communists, altho
not Communist Party of America certainly. Those
people were a totally separate bunch. They were
really scary. If they ever actually miraculously did
take power in America, they were ready to liquidate
all their fellow travellers without hesitation, just
as they did in Eastern Europe after WWII. No
independent thought here, thank-you.
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