# How did Batman dodge the draft? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [September 19, 2005, 11:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-batman-dodge-the-draft/322442 "2005-09-19T23:07:22Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![bubastis](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/d07c76/32.png) [@bubastis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bubastis)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2005, 11:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-batman-dodge-the-draft/322442/1 "2005-09-19T23:07:22Z")
Or was the vietnam war never referenced in Batman’s history? Any one think this is a cool premise? Bat-nam? ---
**Author:** ![bouv](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/bc8723/32.png) [@bouv](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bouv)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2005, 11:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-batman-dodge-the-draft/322442/2 "2005-09-19T23:11:18Z")
He was rich. Find me a rich person who went to vietnam. ---
**Author:** ![Kamino\_Neko](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kamino_neko/32/34_2.png) [@Kamino\_Neko](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kamino_Neko)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2005, 11:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-batman-dodge-the-draft/322442/3 "2005-09-19T23:24:03Z")
At this point in time, he was a runty little kid during the war. When it would have made sense for him to have gone, as far as I know it just wasn’t mentioned. Maybe his number just never came up. Same would apply to earlier wars that he didn’t actually participate in, too. ---
**Author:** ![Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bosda_di_chi_of_tricor/32/16845_2.png) [@Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosda_Di_Chi_of_Tricor)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2005, 11:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-batman-dodge-the-draft/322442/4 "2005-09-19T23:28:24Z")
College. Multiple degrees in the sciences. Therefore, exempt. ---
**Author:** ![Belowjob2.0](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/b9e5f3/32.png) [@Belowjob2.0](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Belowjob2.0)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2005, 11:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-batman-dodge-the-draft/322442/5 "2005-09-19T23:47:00Z")
Orpahan, both parents. Only child. Draft exempt. ---
**Author:** ![Loopus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/loopus/32/15343_2.png) [@Loopus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loopus)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2005, 11:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-batman-dodge-the-draft/322442/6 "2005-09-19T23:59:08Z")
He nightly dresses up in a funny costume with a cape and and prowls the city searching for criminals to foil. Show me a man who does that and I’ll show you a man the Army won’t take. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Scumpup](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ce73a5/32.png) [@Scumpup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scumpup)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2005, 12:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-batman-dodge-the-draft/322442/7 "2005-09-20T00:00:20Z")
Simple. He told the draft board about his relationship with Robin. ---
**Author:** ![Askia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/96bed5/32.png) [@Askia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Askia)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2005, 12:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-batman-dodge-the-draft/322442/8 "2005-09-20T00:11:14Z")
He was _prepared._ Tsk. ---
**Author:** ![Wolfian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/7ea924/32.png) [@Wolfian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wolfian)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2005, 12:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-batman-dodge-the-draft/322442/9 "2005-09-20T00:18:02Z")
He walked in, sang a bar of Alice’s Restuarant, and walked out. ---
**Author:** ![JRDelirious](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jrdelirious/32/9531_2.png) [@JRDelirious](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JRDelirious)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2005, 12:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-batman-dodge-the-draft/322442/10 "2005-09-20T00:27:18Z")
Even then, he was Prepared 😉 As **Tengu** mentions, the continuities have always worked out such that Bruce Wayne would not have been subject to a wartime draft (the original would have been already in his 30s at the start of WW2, and there was no peacetime draft before 1940). For most of the 1948-73 period, for those continuities that put Bruce turning of age within that timeframe, there were abundant exemptions and deferments – not necessarily all those so far mentioned at any given time, but still quite a few; most of the deferments eventually were phased out in the later stages of the draft but you can see how a continuity could put Bruce turning 18 at a convenient time so that the exemptions and deferments cover his eligible time. Also, let’s not forget that the only time a generation of American men saw anything remotely resembling Universal Service was WW2; for any given time period after that the majority of those eligible did not go. Have Bruce turn of the requisite age (not always necessarily 18, at some stage they were going for the 21-y/o’s first) between 1953 and 1962 and he actually stands an excellent chance of his number never coming up for any reason… And yes, the only millionaire heirs that were in uniform in Vietnam were those who _wanted_ to, like Al Gore, but there you have it, there were rich people there. ---
**Author:** ![Terrifel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/c68b51/32.png) [@Terrifel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Terrifel)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2005, 12:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-batman-dodge-the-draft/322442/11 "2005-09-20T00:28:59Z")
Height requirements. Turns out that, without his Bat-Lifts, Bruce Wayne is only 4’ 8" tall. ---
**Author:** ![zagloba](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/977dab/32.png) [@zagloba](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zagloba)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2005, 12:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-batman-dodge-the-draft/322442/12 "2005-09-20T00:31:42Z")
He had other priorities. ---
**Author:** ![fighting\_ignorant](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/ac8455/32.png) [@fighting\_ignorant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fighting_ignorant)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2005, 1:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-batman-dodge-the-draft/322442/13 "2005-09-20T01:08:55Z")
[Don’t ask, don’t tell.](http://www.superdickery.com/seduction/1.html) ---
**Author:** ![HPL](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/3da27b/32.png) [@HPL](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HPL)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2005, 2:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-batman-dodge-the-draft/322442/14 "2005-09-20T02:02:34Z")
> [@Tengu](#): > > At this point in time, he was a runty little kid during the war. > > When it would have made sense for him to have gone, as far as I know it just wasn’t mentioned. Maybe his number just never came up. Same would apply to earlier wars that he didn’t actually participate in, too. Exactly. My dad turned 18 in 1969. He never had to go to war because his number never came up, though he eventually ended up joining to the Navy a couple months before the war offically ended, so he’s a Vietnam-era Vet despite his. ---
**Author:** ![Raguleader](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/258eb7/32.png) [@Raguleader](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Raguleader)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2005, 2:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-batman-dodge-the-draft/322442/15 "2005-09-20T02:03:52Z")
> [@bubastis](#): > > Bat-nam? Wow… I’d love to see a Vietnam Batjet. Would it be like, a black F4 Phantom with batwings? ---
**Author:** ![cckerberos](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f0a364/32.png) [@cckerberos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cckerberos)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2005, 2:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-batman-dodge-the-draft/322442/16 "2005-09-20T02:07:20Z")
Maybe he failed his draft board physical, like Superman did for WW2. ---
**Author:** ![Eonwe](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eonwe/32/240_2.png) [@Eonwe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eonwe)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2005, 5:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-batman-dodge-the-draft/322442/17 "2005-09-20T05:18:14Z")
> [@Wolfian](#): > > He walked in, sang a bar of Alice’s Restuarant, and walked out. You win the prize for the day. As to the OP, who says he dodged it? Plenty of folks were of age who didn’t get called into service legitimately, right? ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2005, 5:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-batman-dodge-the-draft/322442/18 "2005-09-20T05:23:41Z")
> [@cckerberos](#): > > Maybe he failed his draft board physical, like Superman did for WW2. Pilonidal cyst, wasn’t it? ---
**Author:** ![Dijon\_Warlock](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/a9a28c/32.png) [@Dijon\_Warlock](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dijon_Warlock)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2005, 5:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-batman-dodge-the-draft/322442/19 "2005-09-20T05:35:10Z")
Rabies. He was a carrier. ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2005, 5:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-batman-dodge-the-draft/322442/20 "2005-09-20T05:39:43Z")
> [@Dijon Warlock](#): > > Rabies. > > He was a carrier. I heard he got the clap from Supergirl. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-batman-dodge-the-draft/322442.md?page=2)