Is it possible (WAS it possible in the '50s) for a buck private fresh off the farm to assume the identity of a dead officer in the US Army Corps of Engineers? I mean, like, wouldn’t they have checked your fingerprints or something before discharging you? And wouldn’t you have been called upon to do, you know, engineering stuff even while you’re biding your time in the reserves? And wouldn’t you find it difficult to keep up the facade while you’re around other officers, West Pointers or not?
Wouldn’t it also create enormous legal problems after you were a civilian again?
I’ve been binge watching the show lately and am at the beginning of the third season, so I obviously would appreciate the most general of answers at this point (without giving away any vital details that come later in the series).
Real Don Draper did, indeed, tell Young Dick that he was just about to go home. Boom!
I doubt The New Don would have had any ID problems while being demobilized. If he’d applied for GI benefits (a house loan or education), he would have had to go into great detail–so I doubt he did so. (Judging from the paperwork my mother had to fill out as an Unremarried Widow with Children.) An officer with a Reserve Commission could be called back into Active Duty–but would not have regular meetings. (Again, working from family knowledge.)
Possible legal repercussions of Don’s masquerade will continue to be a theme…
The real Mrs Draper (Anna) seems awfully … forgiving, too. How the hell did he manage to avoid her as long as he did? I mean, aren’t your next of kin notified when you’re about to be shipped home with a Purple Heart?
I guess all of that risky paperwork was the reason he was selling used cars instead of taking advantage of the GI Bill. :dubious:
For the most part, the reason why Don/Dick can get away with the ruse is that he manages to befriend the real Mrs Draper who can provide all the necessary details for any paperwork. I don’t recall if they make it clear how long he initially manages to hide out from her (who thinks the real Don is alive and just hiding from her), but it may not have been very long.
You guys are missing the point of the whole ‘identity theft’ background. We are talking about Don Draper here. This guy is so slick he can sell anything.
Well, the point is the separation of his old and new life and how his new life is built upon a lie (and the death of another man) to bury the past of his old. And how they come into conflict during different points of the show.
If he was just able to sell anything, he could have just changed his name and started lying, Frank Abagnale style. The past they gave him serves a specific purpose.
Right. Remember that he didn’t tell Betty! Not only does she think he’s really Don Draper, but she also knows nothing of his “unique” childhood. It’s a hell of a thing to keep from your wife, and accounts for a lot of the ongoing distance between them.
So he was a buck private (or at least a GI) for … what, six to eight years before finally deciding to desert? Was this a screw-up on the part of the writers, or have I missed something?
I get that he’s a slick operator. He would have to be to have survived as long as he has with a false identity.
That’s what advertising is all about: selling images and packages of images to other people. He’s found his niche.
I don’t understand. Dick Whitman joined the army (or was drafted, I don’t recall) into Korea and fairly early on was paired with Don Draper. Dick was understandably unhappy with getting shot at and bombs dropped on him. Don mentioned that his enlistment was almost up and he would be out soon. They were bombed or whatever, Don was killed and Dick was injured. Dick switched dog tags before he passed out and was mistaken for Don when he was rescued and sent to a hospital to recover. When he awoke, he was assumed to be Don and, with his recovery time taking him over Don Draper’s enlistment time, he was discharged.
A year or two later, Anne Draper tracks him down, having been told of his discharge and not knowing why he never came home. Dick explains what happened, Anne is understanding and agrees to help Dick (perhaps with paperwork, more importantly with not ratting him out). Dick and Anne have a friendship from there on out.
Dick still feels guilty over what happened. Taking Don’s identity wasn’t an advertising trick for him, it was his desertion from the army and his old life (including his Whitman family). Without delving into spoilers (not sure what gets revealed when) let’s just say that coming to terms with his assumed identity and reconciling it with his old and the people around him is a major cathartic moment a few times in the show.
Last season (1968) Don has a birthday and it’s revealed that he is 41. So he was born in 1927 and would have maybe been 18 for the surrender of Japan (and 17 in 1944). He wouldn’t have served in WWII.
Also, Roger did serve in WWII and he and Don have a few brief talks about their respective military service. Don served solely in Korea.
