At the age of 18 all males were required to register for the draft. Their was a “selective service officer” in each county who kept track of all of the young males who were eligible for the draft. This was before the lottery so your name was just on a list and when you worked up to #1 then you were the next one to go. Our selective service officer was a lady by the name of the Marguerite Wallace. She was a shirttail cousin of my dad but that didn’t seem to make any difference. Marguerite’s claim to fame was her son (Eddie) was a starting guard for the Kansas State Wildcats on the 1955 to 1957 basketball teams. We lived on the farm north of Wells at the time and I remember dad getting to go to one of the games. I’m sure that was a huge thrill for him because he just didn’t get opportunities to do things like that. Ray & Fred and I sat around the radio in the kitchen and listened to the game. When I was in grade school we had and “athletic banquet” and Eddie Wallace was our speaker. I still have his autograph.
I became number one on the list in the spring of 1968. It was my 4th year of college so my “college deferment” was expiring. It was pretty difficult to spend your night studying knowing that as soon as school was out you were headed for the army. I had already taken my army physical and passed. Right before school was out we all went to a new club to see a band. After the bar we went to an after party. A friend of mine fell down. As I leaned down to help him up a guy by the name of Bernie Blevins mistook the situation as a fight. Bernie was an ex football player at FHSU and obviously I was no match. He threw me out the door and then followed out and proceeded to beat me up. He broke my jar in three places.
Because of this of course I couldn’t go to the army so my draft was postponed for one year. I was also scheduled to be best man in Mert & Connie’s wedding on June 8. I Had my mouth wired shut so Mom and dad took me out so that I could still be in the wedding but we had to leave right after the dinner and first dance.
Since I avoided the draft in 1968 I was able to go back to school. I graduated from FHSU in May and was drafted into the army June 11, 1969.
