# Drafted during the Vietnam War: Saying you were gay **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [October 16, 2009, 2:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/drafted-during-the-vietnam-war-saying-you-were-gay/514026 "2009-10-16T14:27:57Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2009, 3:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/drafted-during-the-vietnam-war-saying-you-were-gay/514026/21 "2009-10-16T15:53:59Z")
> [@Bijou\_Drains](#): > > Air Force asked me a lot about drug use. Can’t recall any sex questions but I guess they were probably on a form I filled out. This was for officer school. The question was on one of the forms you filled out when you registered. ---
**Author:** ![Bijou\_Drains](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bijou_drains/32/2814_2.png) [@Bijou\_Drains](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bijou_Drains)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2009, 4:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/drafted-during-the-vietnam-war-saying-you-were-gay/514026/22 "2009-10-16T16:10:26Z")
My son will register for the draft next year so I guess I will see then what questions they ask now. Maybe by that time there will be no gay question. ---
**Author:** ![AK84](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/85e7bf/32.png) [@AK84](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AK84)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2009, 4:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/drafted-during-the-vietnam-war-saying-you-were-gay/514026/23 "2009-10-16T16:13:43Z")
> [@panache45](#): > > I have to point out that in my case I really was gay, and just answered the questions honestly. I knew several guys who faked it and got caught. We really should have had classes in Gay 101. And even though I acted a little more femme, I was smart enough not to overdo it. Was there anyone you know who 1) was gay and 2) did get drafted, 3) despite answering questions honestly. ---
**Author:** ![Captain\_Amazing](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/6de8d8/32.png) [@Captain\_Amazing](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Captain_Amazing)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2009, 4:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/drafted-during-the-vietnam-war-saying-you-were-gay/514026/24 "2009-10-16T16:18:09Z")
> [@Bijou\_Drains](#): > > My son will register for the draft next year so I guess I will see then what questions they ask now. Maybe by that time there will be no gay question. There won’t be. First of all, they don’t ask that question anymore at all, due to Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell. Second, there’s no draft right now, and your son isn’t registering for it. He’s registering for Selective Service. If there is a draft, then classification boards will be set up and Selective Service registrees will be classified. ---
**Author:** ![Polycarp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/82dd89/32.png) [@Polycarp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Polycarp)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2009, 4:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/drafted-during-the-vietnam-war-saying-you-were-gay/514026/25 "2009-10-16T16:21:39Z")
> [@Mr.Moto](#): > > My grandfather absolutely wanted to fight, but was kept out of WWII with a previously undiagnosed heart murmur. He maintained a vigorous outdoor oriented lifestyle the rest of his life, and when he died his heart was still in fine shape. Didn’t matter - that draft deferment was also likely justified. Backing **Mr Moto** ’s point here, Heinlein pulled every string he had access to – and they were extensive – to attempt to return to service (he had been medically retired due to tuberculosis, since cured) in the days following Pearl Harbor, but the most he was able to accomplish was to be hired _as a civilian_ engineer at the Philadelphia Naval Yard – and it took an Admiral who had been his classmate at Annapolis and remained his lifelong friend to get him even that. Medical exclusions during World War II were emphatic and almost impossible to reverse. ---
**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2009, 4:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/drafted-during-the-vietnam-war-saying-you-were-gay/514026/26 "2009-10-16T16:43:02Z")
> [@AK84](#): > > Was there anyone you know who 1) was gay and 2) did get drafted, 3) despite answering questions honestly. Oh sure. They were looking for stereotypical answers, in spite of the fact that many people don’t fit the stereotype. I don’t think someone would have been believed if he weren’t sexually active, or if he were actually bisexual. ---
**Author:** ![UltraVires](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/ecccb3/32.png) [@UltraVires](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/UltraVires)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2009, 4:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/drafted-during-the-vietnam-war-saying-you-were-gay/514026/27 "2009-10-16T16:44:56Z")
> [@panache45](#): > > I have to point out that in my case I really was gay, and just answered the questions honestly. I knew several guys who faked it and got caught. We really should have had classes in Gay 101. And even though I acted a little more femme, I was smart enough not to overdo it. Well, how would they get caught? Do they make them suck dick as part of a test? 😉 I mean, I’ll just swear up and down that I’m gay and I’m not qualified to be in the military. What do they do wrong that got them “caught”? ---
**Author:** ![malak1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/8e7dd6/32.png) [@malak1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/malak1)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2009, 4:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/drafted-during-the-vietnam-war-saying-you-were-gay/514026/28 "2009-10-16T16:47:18Z")
> [@stuthehistoryguy](#): > > Bruce Springsteen’s story is kind of like that. He stayed up for days beforehand and attributed his dazed state to a head injury he’d sustained in a motorcycle accident years before. That got him his 4F. it look like the boss is a bit of a coward. ---
**Author:** ![Captain\_Carrot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f0a364/32.png) [@Captain\_Carrot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Captain_Carrot)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2009, 4:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/drafted-during-the-vietnam-war-saying-you-were-gay/514026/29 "2009-10-16T16:55:44Z")
Not wanting to be sent to die in a jungle doesn’t make you a coward. ---
**Author:** ![Bijou\_Drains](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bijou_drains/32/2814_2.png) [@Bijou\_Drains](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bijou_Drains)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2009, 5:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/drafted-during-the-vietnam-war-saying-you-were-gay/514026/30 "2009-10-16T17:08:54Z")
Wasn’t it easier to just say you smoked pot? Or would that lead to them giving your name to the local cops? Granted the cops could not arrest you for that but they might decide to harass you. ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2009, 7:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/drafted-during-the-vietnam-war-saying-you-were-gay/514026/31 "2009-10-16T19:08:44Z")
> [@malak1](#): > > it look like the boss is a bit of a coward. > [@Captain\_Carrot](#): > > Not wanting to be sent to die in a jungle doesn’t make you a coward. [Moderating] Let’s not get sidetracked into a discussion of the motivations for avoiding the draft during the Vietnam War. Colibri General Questions Moderator ---
**Author:** ![alphaboi867](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alphaboi867/32/3898_2.png) [@alphaboi867](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/alphaboi867)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2009, 8:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/drafted-during-the-vietnam-war-saying-you-were-gay/514026/32 "2009-10-16T20:40:58Z")
> [@Bijou\_Drains](#): > > I met a guy who had a leg problem so he played a lot of BB right before his physical and it messed up his leg so he failed the physical. I wonder how many other people did something like that. On of my uncles smoked a bunch cigarettes of cigarettes he’d soaked in some kind of ink or dye so it’d look like he had TB on the chest x-ray. This was instead of my grandmother’s suggestion that he show up wearing ladies’ underwear. He was classified 4-F. My other uncle got his 4-F legitimately. He’d broken his leg 2 twice in less than a year (1st time was in a car accident, 2nd time he fell off a rope a gym teacher insisted he climb inspite of a doctor’s note) and had all kinds of pins and a metal rod in it. On the other side of the family my father joined the Navy to avoid being drafted. He still got a notice from the local draft board _while serving on a carrier in middle of the Pacific_ and the local authorities had a hard time believing his then wife when she tried to straighten it out. ---
**Author:** ![Balthisar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/balthisar/32/2825_2.png) [@Balthisar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Balthisar)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2009, 10:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/drafted-during-the-vietnam-war-saying-you-were-gay/514026/33 "2009-10-16T22:19:15Z")
> [@alphaboi867](#): > > On the other side of the family my father joined the Navy to avoid being drafted. He still got a notice from the local draft board _while serving on a carrier in middle of the Pacific_ and the local authorities had a hard time believing his then wife when she tried to straighten it out. In more modern times, things weren’t much better. I left the reserves to go regular army in 1991, and it took a long time for my reserve unit to stop threatening me and marking me as absent. ---
**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2009, 11:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/drafted-during-the-vietnam-war-saying-you-were-gay/514026/34 "2009-10-16T23:14:48Z")
> [@jtgain](#): > > Well, how would they get caught? Do they make them suck dick as part of a test? 😉 I mean, I’ll just swear up and down that I’m gay and I’m not qualified to be in the military. What do they do wrong that got them “caught”? It’s not like there was some kind of handbook with rules for what to say in the interview. The entire procedure was based on less-than-rational assumptions, and it was probably at the subjective discretion of each officer who conducted the interview. And while I escaped getting drafted, I could still have the shit beat out of me or driven to suicide, just for being in a gay bar. So we really had no idea whether there would be consequences for outing ourselves. ---
**Author:** ![Beware\_of\_Doug](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/278dde/32.png) [@Beware\_of\_Doug](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beware_of_Doug)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2009, 12:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/drafted-during-the-vietnam-war-saying-you-were-gay/514026/35 "2009-10-17T00:25:41Z")
> [@jtgain](#): > > Do they make them suck dick as part of a test? 😉 This hasn’t to do with 'Nam - but IIRC, it was in Studs Terkel’s oral history of WW2. Someone recalled a local doctor offering to do teh ghey with young guys so that they could be exempted as homosexuals. Whether a sleazy photog or gumshoe was involved, or whether Doc was just a very respected authority, was not elaborated. ---
**Author:** ![Snnipe\_70E](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b5a626/32.png) [@Snnipe\_70E](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snnipe_70E)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2009, 2:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/drafted-during-the-vietnam-war-saying-you-were-gay/514026/36 "2009-10-17T02:48:48Z")
> [@alphaboi867](#): > > . On the other side of the family my father joined the Navy to avoid being drafted. He still got a notice from the local draft board _while serving on a carrier in middle of the Pacific_ and the local authorities had a hard time believing his then wife when she tried to straighten it out. I had the same problem. when I graduated from the Maritime Academy I also recieved a reserve commission as an Ensign. I ended up with a 1A draft clasification. When I applied for reclassification basied on my commission I was turned down because the reasson was not good enough. boy did I have fun with them. I guess if I had been drafted I would have shown up in a dress uniform. ---
**Author:** ![Snnipe\_70E](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b5a626/32.png) [@Snnipe\_70E](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snnipe_70E)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2009, 2:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/drafted-during-the-vietnam-war-saying-you-were-gay/514026/37 "2009-10-17T02:53:18Z")
> [@Bijou\_Drains](#): > > Was it true that flat feet meant you were disqualified? In 1932 my dad got a reserve commission in the Navy based on his Maritime Liciences. In 1936 he was being hasseled by his detail officer about completeing training with Navy. He told him if lhe had to go active he wanted pilot training. But he had flat feet. It took an act of congress to get him approved, but by the time the Navy got all the ducks in a row he was two week too old for pilot training. ---
**Author:** ![kidneyfailure](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/9f8e36/32.png) [@kidneyfailure](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kidneyfailure)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2009, 3:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/drafted-during-the-vietnam-war-saying-you-were-gay/514026/38 "2009-10-17T03:58:29Z")
> [@Captain\_Amazing](#): > > There won’t be. First of all, they don’t ask that question anymore at all, due to Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell. Second, there’s no draft right now, and your son isn’t registering for it. He’s registering for Selective Service. If there is a draft, then classification boards will be set up and Selective Service registrees will be classified. Exactly. You don’t even have to sign up face to face. You get the card in the mail informing you that you must register, then you can just register online now. No questions at all beyond the usual details. ---
**Author:** ![Imasquare](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/5f9b8f/32.png) [@Imasquare](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Imasquare)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2009, 7:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/drafted-during-the-vietnam-war-saying-you-were-gay/514026/39 "2009-10-17T07:20:49Z")
> [@malak1](#): > > it look like the boss is a bit of a coward. Can’t say that I blame him really. Anyway he’s no coward. I’m one and he’s never at the meetings. ---
**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2009, 7:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/drafted-during-the-vietnam-war-saying-you-were-gay/514026/40 "2009-10-17T07:50:33Z")
> [@kidneyfailure](#): > > Exactly. You don’t even have to sign up face to face. You get the card in the mail informing you that you must register, then you can just register online now. No questions at all beyond the usual details. So you no longer have to drop trou and bend over, so a doctor can inspect your hole? Seriously, that doc had to be the last person in his med school class. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/drafted-during-the-vietnam-war-saying-you-were-gay/514026.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/drafted-during-the-vietnam-war-saying-you-were-gay/514026.md?page=3)