Photo of my grandson, whom my wife and I raised. He is currently stationed in Missouri.
When I was studying at Oklahoma State University, I went and took an exam to become an officer in the Marine Corps.
I was sure I had passed the exam, but months later I was told I had not. Some years back, I asked for my military selective service records. I had to hound them to get them, even after I had paid for them.
I found that at one time I was classified as I-D:
Class I-D Qualified member of reserve component, or student taking military training, including R.O.T.C., and accepted aviation cadet applicant
Class I-A : Available for military service
Class I –S Student deferred by law until graduation from high school or attainment of age 20, or until end of his academic year at a college or university
Class II – S Student deferment
A
1-H Selective Service classification (or I-H) designates a registrant not currently subject to processing for induction or alternative service. Primarily used during the Vietnam War (circa 1971–1976), it meant the individual was not immediately eligible to be drafted. It functioned as a “holding” classification, often applied when the draft wound down.
My lottery number was 274. Even though I knew I would not be subject to the draft, I applied to become an officer in the Marine Corps. To this day, I believe that the reasons the Marines did not accept me were racial. The Marines were the last to integrate people into their officer ranks, at least that is what I found in my research. I was called to take a physical while at Oklahoma State University. They chose the biggest, fattest doctor in the state, and to this day, I always look at a doctor’s hands before I choose him or her as my doctor. Guys who went through that physical know what I am referring to.
The United States Marine Corps is widely regarded as the last branch of the U.S. Armed Forces to fully integrate, a process that was not finalized until 1960, with significant challenges regarding minority officer integration continuing through the 1960s.
Source
Lottery Details and Impact
The draft lottery for men born between 1944 and 1950 took place on December 1, 1969. This event determined the order in which eligible men would be called for induction into military service during the calendar year 1970.
- Selection Process: Officials placed 366 blue plastic capsules—one for each possible birth date, including February 29—into a glass container and drew them one by one.
- Draft Threshold: For this specific lottery (the 1970 induction year), the Selective Service only drafted men with lottery numbers from 1 up to 195.
- Outcome for June xx: Because the number 274 was above the 195 threshold, individuals with this birthday were generally not called for induction during that period.
I had applied to be a pilot. One of my roommates was taking classes to become a pilot.
I actually tried twice to enlist; the first time I was 17, but my parents would not sign. It was the same time that Joe Trejo and Joe Salazar joined. They had what they called the Texas Battalion, where, if you joined, you would go through basic training together. I was already taking Auto Mechanics at Del Mar. The recruiter told me that they need mechanics much more than they need people with guns.
Neither Joe Trejo nor Jose Salazar returned home from Vietnam.
Click on the image for more.
It was not meant for me to serve. Maybe my mother was right when I asked why she didn’t sign. Decades later, she told me they would have killed you. I asked her why, and she said our own would do it.
I thought about it, and she may have been correct. Guillermo Davila, my friend, was very much like me; some people think our own may have killed him.
My records are toward the bottom:
One of my brothers asked me why I didn’t join after graduating. I told him that the war was over. I will never know if I could live up to my father, who served four years in the Pacific during WWII.
