# Draft Dodger \[Harrison Ford\] **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [January 5, 2014, 3:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/draft-dodger-harrison-ford/677947 "2014-01-05T15:30:39Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![tdlong](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/e8c25b/32.png) [@tdlong](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tdlong)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2014, 3:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/draft-dodger-harrison-ford/677947/1 "2014-01-05T15:30:39Z")
Was Harrison Ford a draft dodger during the Vietnam War? ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2014, 3:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/draft-dodger-harrison-ford/677947/2 "2014-01-05T15:58:09Z")
Ford filed a petition to be classified as a Conscientious Objector. He submitted a long explanation about his philosophical beliefs which he admits was confusing. Whether the military accepted his claim or simply decided not to bother, the result was that Ford was not called up. ---
**Author:** ![Exapno\_Mapcase](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/exapno_mapcase/32/1051_2.png) [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2014, 4:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/draft-dodger-harrison-ford/677947/3 "2014-01-05T16:24:35Z")
Just to clarify. Conscientious objectors are NOT draft dodgers. Those with medical issues are NOT draft dodgers. Those with dependents are NOT draft dodgers. Those in protected occupations are NOT draft dodgers. And so on. ---
**Author:** ![psychonaut](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/psychonaut/32/4655_2.png) [@psychonaut](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/psychonaut)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2014, 4:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/draft-dodger-harrison-ford/677947/4 "2014-01-05T16:43:47Z")
> [@Exapno\_Mapcase](#): > > Just to clarify. > > Conscientious objectors are NOT draft dodgers. > Those with medical issues are NOT draft dodgers. > Those with dependents are NOT draft dodgers. > Those in protected occupations are NOT draft dodgers. > > And so on. Your claims are at odds with how many people actually use the term, and how some dictionaries define it. ---
**Author:** ![John\_Mace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_mace/32/185_2.png) [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2014, 4:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/draft-dodger-harrison-ford/677947/5 "2014-01-05T16:54:35Z")
> [@tdlong](#): > > Was Harrison Ford a draft dodger during the Vietnam War? Define “draft dodger”. ---
**Author:** ![Hari\_Seldon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hari_seldon/32/5173_2.png) [@Hari\_Seldon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hari_Seldon)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2014, 4:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/draft-dodger-harrison-ford/677947/6 "2014-01-05T16:57:02Z")
> [@psychonaut](#): > > Your claims are at odds with how many people actually use the term, and how some dictionaries define it. I understand it in exactly the way it is defined by law. So you think all the atomic bomb developers were draft dodgers. Since this is GQ, I will stop here. ---
**Author:** ![Lanzy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/74df32/32.png) [@Lanzy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lanzy)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2014, 5:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/draft-dodger-harrison-ford/677947/7 "2014-01-05T17:00:08Z")
If Draft Dodger is anyone that could have gone to Vietnam but didn’t, then I guess he was. But did I dodge the draft by volunteering to be in the Army but Not go to Vietnam? ---
**Author:** ![psychonaut](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/psychonaut/32/4655_2.png) [@psychonaut](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/psychonaut)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2014, 5:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/draft-dodger-harrison-ford/677947/8 "2014-01-05T17:03:15Z")
> [@Hari\_Seldon](#): > > I understand it in exactly the way it is defined by law. Which is, I’m sure, one of many definitions commonly in use, none of which I would presume to call more correct than the other. By the way, which law is it that defines the term “draft dodger”? ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2014, 5:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/draft-dodger-harrison-ford/677947/9 "2014-01-05T17:36:03Z")
> [@Exapno\_Mapcase](#): > > Just to clarify. > > Conscientious objectors are NOT draft dodgers. > Those with medical issues are NOT draft dodgers. > Those with dependents are NOT draft dodgers. > Those in protected occupations are NOT draft dodgers. > > And so on. My personal opinion is that if you follow the existing rules in an honest manner to avoid being drafted, you can be called a draft evader. If you violate the rules or make false claims to avoid being drafted, you can be called a draft dodger. In Ford’s case, it’s not clear whether the beliefs he gave in his request for conscientious objector status were his sincere beliefs at the time or just stuff he made up (I’m basing this on what Ford himself has said). I think there’s a plausible argument that somebody who requests conscientious objector status on the basis of beliefs he doesn’t actually hold has done something wrong and should be considered a draft dodger. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2014, 5:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/draft-dodger-harrison-ford/677947/10 "2014-01-05T17:43:29Z")
For the record, here’s what Ford said in a 1997 interview: > [@](#): > > Q: How did you beat the draft during that time? > A: I was a conscientious objector. > Q: Were you actually classified as that? > A: No. I confused them so badly that they never took action on my petition. My conscientious objection wasn’t based on a history of religious affiliation, which made it difficult at that time. I went back to my philosophy training from college. I remembered Paul Tillich’s phrase, If you have trouble with the word God, take whatever is central or most meaningful to your life and call that God. I always had trouble with the word or notion of God in a stand-up form. So I developed that thesis and took the biblical injunction to love thy neighbor as thyself as the central and most meaningful thing in my life. I combined it all and typed for days and sent it off and never heard a word. Never got called in. It lingered for about two and a half years and then my first wife became pregnant and I got an exemption based on that. The lawyer that I had retained to pursue my case, one J.B. Teats, told me that I owed him $5,000 as a result of my wife becoming pregnant. He showed me the piece of paper I’d signed, the simple form of a retainer, which stipulated that any more desirable draft status that was achieved during this period of time would be deemed to be the result of his interference. And he was not amused by the conjecture of the child’s paternity. So for about two years he dunned me for that $5,000. I finally paid him. > > [Harrison Ford: Off the Beaten Path - Movieline](http://movieline.com/1997/07/01/off-the-beaten-path/) ---
**Author:** ![Wendell\_Wagner](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/8491ac/32.png) [@Wendell\_Wagner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wendell_Wagner)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2014, 6:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/draft-dodger-harrison-ford/677947/11 "2014-01-05T18:28:51Z")
Was I a draft dodger because, since I’m 4’11", the draft board decided that they couldn’t draft me or take me even if I had enlisted? ---
**Author:** ![Exapno\_Mapcase](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/exapno_mapcase/32/1051_2.png) [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2014, 6:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/draft-dodger-harrison-ford/677947/12 "2014-01-05T18:29:33Z")
> [@psychonaut](#): > > Your claims are at odds with how many people actually use the term, and how some dictionaries define it. And here’s also how [some dictionaries](http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/draft+dodger?s=t) define it: > [@](#): > > Cultural Dictionary American Heritage > > draft dodger definition > > Someone who illegally evades the draft, as opposed to a conscientious objector, who is granted official, legal exemption from military duty. In active protest against United States involvement in the Vietnam War, many Americans publicly burned draft registration cards, risking imprisonment; others fled to other countries, such as Canada. All my examples were official, legal exemptions for which it is both wrong and derogatory to condemn as dodging the draft. > [@Little\_Nemo](#): > > My personal opinion is that if you follow the existing rules in an honest manner to avoid being drafted, you can be called a draft evader. If you violate the rules or make false claims to avoid being drafted, you can be called a draft dodger. I can agree with that, although the “rules” were often in practice interpretations, and different draft boards might not have agreed on them. > [@](#): > > In Ford’s case, it’s not clear whether the beliefs he gave in his request for conscientious objector status were his sincere beliefs at the time or just stuff he made up (I’m basing this on what Ford himself has said). The quote in your next post does not show that Ford made up stuff. He seems to be claiming that one can be a conscientious objector without necessarily believing in God or a particular religion. I would hope that by this era that would be self-evidently obvious. ---
**Author:** ![UncaStuart](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/uncastuart/32/404_2.png) [@UncaStuart](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/UncaStuart)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2014, 6:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/draft-dodger-harrison-ford/677947/13 "2014-01-05T18:58:28Z")
> [@Exapno\_Mapcase](#): > > He seems to be claiming that one can be a conscientious objector without necessarily believing in God or a particular religion. If memory serves, the requirement was that CO status had to derive from a known pacifistic, established religious tradition like that of the Quakers, but in 1968 this was changed to include personal beliefs independent of religion. However, one still had to base these personal beliefs on outside authority, which required extensive citing of classical philosophers and such. Sounds like Ford’s effort was one of these. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2014, 7:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/draft-dodger-harrison-ford/677947/14 "2014-01-05T19:21:17Z")
> [@Exapno\_Mapcase](#): > > The quote in your next post does not show that Ford made up stuff. I feel it’s not clear from what he said. He admits his letter to the draft board confused them badly: so was this because Ford expressed himself poorly despite his best efforts or was he intentionally trying to be unclear? He also said _“I developed that thesis and took the biblical injunction to love thy neighbor as thyself as the central and most meaningful thing in my life.”_ This is somewhat ambiguous: is Ford saying this was his existing belief or is he saying he adopted this as his belief because he felt it was likely to be accepted by the draft board? ---
**Author:** ![Carlarm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/b5e925/32.png) [@Carlarm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Carlarm)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2014, 7:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/draft-dodger-harrison-ford/677947/15 "2014-01-05T19:44:42Z")
I was in college during the Vietnam war. The draft board mistakenly (on purpose?) revoked my student deferment and called me in for a physical. By losing ten pounds in ten days, I was underweight at the physical. After appealing the revocation of my student deferment they did the same thing a year later. I lost the ten pounds again and this time was classed as 4-F (not fit for military service). My lottery number was 50, so I was otherwise sure to be drafted. I was opposed to the war on moral grounds. But since I was (and still am) an atheist, didn’t think I’d get anywhere claiming to be a conscientious objector. Was I a draft dogder or draft evader? Neither? ---
**Author:** ![Wendell\_Wagner](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/8491ac/32.png) [@Wendell\_Wagner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wendell_Wagner)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2014, 8:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/draft-dodger-harrison-ford/677947/16 "2014-01-05T20:08:02Z")
James Fallows did the same thing and wrote a famous article about it: [http://www.washingtonmonthly.com/features/2009/0911.fallows.html](http://www.washingtonmonthly.com/features/2009/0911.fallows.html) ---
**Author:** ![SanDiegoTim](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/85e7bf/32.png) [@SanDiegoTim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SanDiegoTim)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2014, 8:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/draft-dodger-harrison-ford/677947/17 "2014-01-05T20:10:38Z")
IMHO, anyone that went out of their way to orchestrate a situation and/or belief in order to secure a deferment was a draft dodger. Obviously not a scientific/legal opinion, but I believe it to be accurate in terms of context of the time. ---
**Author:** ![Wendell\_Wagner](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/8491ac/32.png) [@Wendell\_Wagner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wendell_Wagner)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2014, 8:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/draft-dodger-harrison-ford/677947/18 "2014-01-05T20:23:56Z")
Define “out of their way.” In the given case, someone lost ten pounds in ten days. Suppose they didn’t eat much the day before and lost one pound, just enough to put them under the required weight. Does that count? ---
**Author:** ![Oakminster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/77aa72/32.png) [@Oakminster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Oakminster)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2014, 8:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/draft-dodger-harrison-ford/677947/19 "2014-01-05T20:32:04Z")
Withdrawn. ---
**Author:** ![John\_Mace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_mace/32/185_2.png) [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2014, 8:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/draft-dodger-harrison-ford/677947/20 "2014-01-05T20:44:28Z")
> [@SanDiegoTim](#): > > IMHO, anyone that went out of their way to orchestrate a situation and/or belief in order to secure a deferment was a draft dodger. Obviously not a scientific/legal opinion, but I believe it to be accurate in terms of context of the time. Whenever you have to hedge your statement with “IMHO” in this forum, you lose. 😉 Until and unless\* the OP defines specifically what he means by the term, shouldn’t we just go with the legal definition? \*Note join date. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/draft-dodger-harrison-ford/677947.md?page=2)