In the U.S., it’s common mythology that during times of an active draft, men with flat feet were regularly excused or rejected from military service.
I’ve always wondered about this, because I have flat feet and it doesn’t seem to impair my ability to do much of anything.
Were men really rejected for this reason? Is it still used as a disqualifier for service in any way?
At MEPS it was pointed out to me that I had one partially flat foot. I was asked if my feet hurt; I said no. Apparently that was enough for them.
There’s my anecdotal ‘evidence’ for yah, I’m sure someone who knows some real facts will be along soon.
Speaking of which, I have heard that the term “flatfoot” as a synonym for “police officer” derived from the alledged fact that flat-footed Army rejects became cops during WWII. Any truth to that?
My uncle was rejected for service for flat feet in the late 1960s, so there is truth to that.
I’m sure there’s a reason for it, although I personally don’t know what that reason is.
Essentially it was thought that flat feet meant weak arches and the dude would be unable to march effectively over long distances. Some times they were flat out rejected from service, and some times they were accepted into non-infantry roles(drivers and home-front service and such). My grandfather and his 5 brothers were all rejected from WWI for flat feet, and pretty much told to go back to the farm.
The restriction as been dropped from U.S. military requirments, and several studies have been made that show that flat feet are everything from a non-significant risk, to an actual benefit for marching.
You also have to remember that the cuture was different, back WWI and WWII. Although there were jokes about people getting excused from service for fake flat feet, for many people it was an absolutly cruching blow that they wouldn’t be allowed to serve (My grandfather and brothers never forgave the army for refusing them.)
It is also very genetic, and I have flat feet, but for a fairly active guy who has been seriously overweight most of my life, my feet have never had a problem( My knees on the other hand :()
The slang term flatfoot specifically refers to a foot patrolman. The suggestion is that he gets flat feet from all that walking. It has nothing to do with being rejected from military service.
Flat feet can be an indication of foot problems. It causes the doctors at the induction physical to screen the flat-footed inductee more closely to make sure they can walk and march properly.
This was the case when I went in in 1993.
Now, foot problems will still get you rejected for military service, but flat feet aren’t an automatic disqualifier.
I’m not exactly sure of the reason, myself, but it could be that many people with flat feet (fallen arches) get sore feet from being on their feet a lot.
When I was 12, the family doctor told my folks that I had fallen arches, and recommended that I see a podiatrist to get the condition corrected with prescription arch supports. Over time, they would have forced a new curve or arch, into the soles of my feet.
For some reason that I couldn’t understand, my mother threw and absolute conniption fit at the idea, once we got home. She was so vehement about my NOT seeing the specialist, that even Dad wouldn’t overrule her.
Fast forward to the day I received my draft notice. Dad looked worried, because the US was at the height of the Vietnam War draft, most of the college deferments had been rescinded, and far too many Americans were dying, over there. Mom just sat there, in her chair at the dinner table, smiled at me, and said, “Don’t worry, honey. You’re not going anywhere, except to college.”
I had to go for my selective service physical, then, and Mom drove me to the Army base where I’d been ordered to report. After 3 hours waiting in line, it was my turn. The docs looked at my feet, and stamped 4-F on my paperwork. On the drive home from the base, my mother simply smiled at me and - years before it became “Hannibal” Smith’s catch-phrase, in “The A-Team” - told me, “I love it, when a plan comes together!” Turns out she’d decided, when I was 12, that the Vietnam war would drag on long enough to put her baby boy at risk, and she planned ahead. It cost me a lot of sore feet on Boy Scout hikes, but it kept me from playing cannon fodder in rice paddies.
My firiend’s uncle’s cousin was rejected because his seeing eye dog had flat feet.
Yes, and yes. I had very flat feet, most of my life. It was not a problem when I was young and fit, but when I got past middle age, the extra work of keeping my legs upright really started to tell on long walks.
So before a big trip to Paris, I went to a podiatrist – who sold me absolute standard ordinary shoe inserts. The shoe inserts made long walks less demanding, and, for the first time in my life, I developed arches. Now when I put a wet foot on the floor, I leave a classic “footprint shape” mark, instead of a Yetti mark.
And my legs are over the top of my feet, not spilled to the inside.
My theory is that my tendons contracted when not forced out flat.
I have no idea if this story is true or my dad was just bullshitting. He served in the Marines during WWII. He once said he tried to enlist in the Arny but they didn’t want him because of his feet. I don’t recall him having flat feet but I know he did have some minor issues with them.
I think it was 1936 my dad was being pressed by his reserve detail officer to take some training from the Navy. He was USNR with an EDO (engineering duty only) at the time. He was not married at the the time and though what the heck, and said he wanted to become a Naval pilot. He was rejected because of his flat feet. But his detail officer needed the numbers and kept pushing. It took an act of Congress to get him admitted to pilot training. But by the time all the paper work cleared he was 4 months too old. I always figured it was a good thing for me. The life expectancy of Naval pilots was not all that great in the early part of the war.
My father tried to enlist after Pearl Harbor. He was rejected because the doctors found a heart murmur. He was drafted 10 months later. The severity of a disability (at least in WW2) seems directly related to how badly the draft boards needed manpower.
In college (the 60’s) I got called in for a draft physical. The doctor asked me if I had any trouble running - I said no, I was on the track team. Then he told me I had flat feet and could otherwise have been rejected. It kind of didn’t matter because I had a very high draft lottery number.
I did feel like he’d sandbagged me, but as I say it didn’t matter.
Related: my wife went for a cardio exam for a weak heart valve/flutter, and almost as a party trick (it seemed to us) out of the blue he said “you must have flat feet.”
Can’t remember the physiology (new OP?) but it’s related.
This is always been true for every Army in history. There is even a trope for it, Lowered Recruiting Standards.
In one Vietnam memoir, I read described the draft medical process and how the physicians made decisions; one guy with flat feet was accepted with a note in his file to get support for his boots; a guy with poor vision was told to go to see an Army Opthomalogist ASAP after enlistment. They made it clear that despite what many civilian “legends” mght say, how much one infirmity was going to save you depended on the needs of the service at that moment in time and the interpretation of the Doctors.
The British judge Lord Denning was declared medically unfit for service in WW1, a different doctor had another opinion and Denning attributed the first’s decision on him being sick of sending young men to die.
When I went for my pre-induction physical in 1967, I believe I would have had to have been on life support to be rejected. The military admin guy who checked us in had an obviously deformed spine; I suspect they put him in that job to discourage people from whining too loudly about a trifling issue like flat feet.
By the way, what case is the phrase “I would have had to have been. . .”?
My brother had the opposite happen to him. His number was coming up. So he checked things out. He could get training on flying a helicopter if he joined. During his physical his asthma turned up. No go the army would not let him enlist, medically rejected. He goes home. Next week he is told to report for induction physical. His asthma comes up. The Army has no problem with it. He is informed he will be receiving his draft notice. He goes ballistic he can not join but they will draft him. He demands to be allowed to enlist. They begin checking his case out. finally he is told to go home they will be contacting him. That was the last he heard.
I was told I had low arches when I enlisted and showed up to basic training. I remember the sergeant saying “Just barely passed, private.” Two months later, my arches were killing me, and I knew why.
Speaking from personal experience, it’s not really about distance; it’s backpack weight. I was fine my whole life running and walking, until 50lbs was regularly strapped to my back and 10 more to my front. To this day, I can hike forever, unless my pack is full.
If you’re asking tenses, it’s the third conditional form of the past perfect tense.