# 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:** 2
**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, 5:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-batman-dodge-the-draft/322442/21 "2005-09-20T05:48:24Z")
He _wished_. ---
**Author:** ![Soylent\_Gene](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecae2f/32.png) [@Soylent\_Gene](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Soylent_Gene)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2005, 7:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-batman-dodge-the-draft/322442/22 "2005-09-20T07:55:54Z")
> [@bubastis](#): > > Or was the vietnam war never referenced in Batman’s history? Any one think this is a cool premise? Bat-nam? We would have won the War. But of course, the Gotham City Police Department would have been helpless. This would make a great movie. Imagne Ho Chi Mihn hanging out in a Factory loft with uniformed hencemen, colored spot lights, and a slanty camera angle. ---
**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, 1:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-batman-dodge-the-draft/322442/23 "2005-09-20T13:20:10Z")
> [@Soylent Gene](#): > > This would make a great movie. Imagne Ho Chi Mihn hanging out in a Factory loft with uniformed hencemen, colored spot lights, and a slanty camera angle. I’m giving my prize to you. ---
**Author:** ![Anaamika](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/5f9b8f/32.png) [@Anaamika](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anaamika)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2005, 1:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-batman-dodge-the-draft/322442/24 "2005-09-20T13:31:51Z")
> [@Terrifel](#): > > Height requirements. Turns out that, without his Bat-Lifts, Bruce Wayne is only 4’ 8" tall. Shutupshutupshutup! ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2005, 1:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-batman-dodge-the-draft/322442/25 "2005-09-20T13:59:58Z")
I’m just trying to picture Batman in _The Deer Hunter_. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Jurph](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/50afbb/32.png) [@Jurph](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jurph)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2005, 2:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-batman-dodge-the-draft/322442/26 "2005-09-20T14:08:52Z")
I just keep seeing the ears come up out of a foggy river, then the cowl, then the EYES – straight out of _Apocalypse Now_. …The Bat-Copter whooshing in over a little village, firing Zuni rockets and playing the Batman theme song: “da-na-na-na da-na-na-na BAT MAAAAN!” …Batman and Robin in the classic spandex outfits surfing between the mortar shells at the mouth of the Nung river. ---
**Author:** ![Otto](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/bbe5ce/32.png) [@Otto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Otto)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2005, 2:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-batman-dodge-the-draft/322442/27 "2005-09-20T14:16:05Z")
> [@Marley23](#): > > Pilonidal cyst, wasn’t it? I get that it’s a Rush Limbaugh joke, but for those who might be wondering, Golden Age Superman was deferred 4-F in WW2 because he got nervous at his physical and accidentally read the eye chart in the next room with his x-ray vision. ---
**Author:** ![cbawlmer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/71e660/32.png) [@cbawlmer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cbawlmer)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2005, 2:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-batman-dodge-the-draft/322442/28 "2005-09-20T14:23:40Z")
I think Batman could have claimed conscientious objector status. Much like Muhammed Ali, he’s fine with beating people up but draws the line at killing anyone. If he won’t kill the Joker he’s not going to take out the Vietcong either. ---
**Author:** ![SuperNelson](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/7feea3/32.png) [@SuperNelson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SuperNelson)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2005, 2:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-batman-dodge-the-draft/322442/29 "2005-09-20T14:42:35Z")
Dunno about Batman, but I would guess that Bruce Wayne would have been deferred by virtue of having a job that was deemed essential to the war effort. Wayne Enterprises did defense contract work, right? ---
**Author:** ![toadspittle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/c0e974/32.png) [@toadspittle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/toadspittle)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2005, 3:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-batman-dodge-the-draft/322442/30 "2005-09-20T15:31:23Z")
> [@SuperNelson](#): > > Dunno about Batman, but I would guess that Bruce Wayne would have been deferred by virtue of having a job that was deemed essential to the war effort. Wayne Enterprises did defense contract work, right? This was my guess. Both of my wife’s grandfathers were exempted from service because they were highly trained steelworkers. One was in basic for a few weeks before he got yanked back out and sent home to Johnstown, Pa., to get back to work. ---
**Author:** ![wolf\_meister](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wolf_meister/32/15202_2.png) [@wolf\_meister](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wolf_meister)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2005, 3:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-batman-dodge-the-draft/322442/31 "2005-09-20T15:43:44Z")
**cbawlmer** Yes, I wasn’t too thrilled about Ali’s non-violent conscientious objector stance either. (I mean if he played badminton, tetherball or croquet that would have been different). Nonetheless, **Jack Kemp** got a _medical deferment_ from military service yet bravely persevered to play quarterback for the Buffalo Bills. Now _there’s_ a hero for ya. :rolleyes: Somehow, Ali’s draft-dodging made front-page news for a long time. Jack Kemp’s “deferment” (at least on a par with Ali’s) somehow managed to escape the newspapers. **BelowJob2.0** - Nope. Being an orphan or an only child did _not_ make you draft exempt. Being the sole surviving male child did. That is to say, if there were 2 sons in a family, and one was killed _while enlisted in the military_, the other son was exempt from military service. I was eligible for the draft in the 1960’s and it sure didn’t seem the way that most people describe it presently. My brother graduated from college in the 1960’s and it was almost as if you got your diploma in one hand and your draft notice in the other. As far as a draft lottery, I think that was instituted in 1970. So, if someone were elgible to be drafted in 1967, and they say they had a high number, they are full of shit. So be that as it may, **Bruce Wayne** , being rich, would have had the right connections and would never have had to serve in the military. ---
**Author:** ![SteveG1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/bb73d2/32.png) [@SteveG1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SteveG1)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2005, 4:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-batman-dodge-the-draft/322442/32 "2005-09-20T16:08:30Z")
I would imagine it was a combination of things - wealth, power, connections, and government contracts. Besides simply being prepared that is. ---
**Author:** ![cbawlmer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/71e660/32.png) [@cbawlmer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cbawlmer)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2005, 4:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-batman-dodge-the-draft/322442/33 "2005-09-20T16:24:28Z")
> [@wolf\_meister](#): > > **cbawlmer** > Yes, I wasn’t too thrilled about Ali’s non-violent conscientious objector stance either. (I mean if he played badminton, tetherball or croquet that would have been different). Oh, there’s a huge difference between beating people up and actually killing them. I don’t want to hijack the thread, but I want to make it clear that I think it’s completely legitimate. ---
**Author:** ![Lumpy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lumpy/32/446_2.png) [@Lumpy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lumpy)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2005, 4:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-batman-dodge-the-draft/322442/34 "2005-09-20T16:31:19Z")
> [@Otto](#): > > I get that it’s a Rush Limbaugh joke, but for those who might be wondering, Golden Age Superman was deferred 4-F in WW2 because he got nervous at his physical and accidentally read the eye chart in the next room with his x-ray vision. This may be canon, but I can’t believe that getting out of the draft in WW2 was as easy as reading the eye chart wrong. There would have been an epidemic of “blindness” in that case. ---
**Author:** ![wolf\_meister](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wolf_meister/32/15202_2.png) [@wolf\_meister](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wolf_meister)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2005, 7:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-batman-dodge-the-draft/322442/35 "2005-09-20T19:57:30Z")
**cbawlmer** Ali’s deferment at the time made me a little angry (and it made a _ **lot** _ of people _ **really** _ angry). Anyway, that’s why I had to mention in the very next sentence, the great American “hero” **Jack Kemp** - the football qurterback with the _medical_ deferment. I said his deferment was at least on a par with Ali’s but Kemp didn’t suffer 1% of what happened to Ali. Ali lost a lot of fans for the stand he took and he lost his title. (Don’t know why a fighter can lose a title for that but he did). Anyway, as I said, it’s too bad that more wasn’t made out of Jack Kemp’s exclusion from military service. Ali took a lot of shit, and Kemp just kept playing ball and went on to a political career. ---
**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, 8:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-batman-dodge-the-draft/322442/36 "2005-09-20T20:07:02Z")
> [@Otto](#): > > Iget that it’s a Rush Limbaugh joke, but for those who might be wondering, Golden Age Superman was deferred 4-F in WW2 because he got nervous at his physical and accidentally read the eye chart in the next room with his x-ray vision. Oh, he was serious? I never thought about it. I guess they had to get him out of the war somehow, but is that the best they could do? ---
**Author:** ![ZebraShaSha](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/eada6e/32.png) [@ZebraShaSha](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZebraShaSha)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2005, 8:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-batman-dodge-the-draft/322442/37 "2005-09-20T20:29:01Z")
He’s just a typical American boy from a typical American town. And when it came his time to serve, he knew better dead than red. However, when he got to his old draft board this is what he said: “Sarge I’m only 18 I’ve got a ruptured spleen and I always carry a purse. I’ve got eyes like a bat and my feet are flat and my asthma is getting worse.” ---
**Author:** ![Otto](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/bbe5ce/32.png) [@Otto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Otto)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2005, 9:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-batman-dodge-the-draft/322442/38 "2005-09-20T21:20:12Z")
> [@Lumpy](#): > > This may be canon, but I can’t believe that getting out of the draft in WW2 was as easy as reading the eye chart wrong. There would have been an epidemic of “blindness” in that case. Well it’s not AFAIK still canon because current continuity has no Golden Age Superman, unless DC has changed things again since Crisis. Regardless, the attitude toward the draft was a lot more positive in WW2 than it was in the Vietnam era. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2005, 4:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-batman-dodge-the-draft/322442/39 "2005-09-21T16:05:03Z")
Quoth **toadspittle** : > [@](#): > > This was my guess. Both of my wife’s grandfathers were exempted from service because they were highly trained steelworkers. One was in basic for a few weeks before he got yanked back out and sent home to Johnstown, Pa., to get back to work. Wow… I don’t _think_ you’re my brother-in-law, but both of my grandfathers were exempted as steelworkers, too, one of them in Johnstown. ---
**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:** [September 21, 2005, 6:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-batman-dodge-the-draft/322442/40 "2005-09-21T18:34:08Z")
> [@toadspittle](#): > > This was my guess. Both of my wife’s grandfathers were exempted from service because they were highly trained steelworkers. One was in basic for a few weeks before he got yanked back out and sent home to Johnstown, Pa., to get back to work. Somehow my grandfather got an exemption because he was an only son and needed to work the family farm. The odd thing is one of his sisters served in the Army Medical Corps. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-batman-dodge-the-draft/322442.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-batman-dodge-the-draft/322442.md?page=3)