Hardship Case
Since I was #128 (out of 366) in the lottery and I had already taken my physical I was sure I would be called up. I had become resigned to the notion of being a medic. That would satisfy the social demand for service under fire (no cowards allowed, if you please) as well as the personal concern for my eternal soul. We would now wait and see.
The Selective Service responded to my letter announcing Bonny's birth that coming Fall by sending me an application for hardship deferment. I had read in the Handbook for Conscientious Objectors that a hardship deferment was the rarest of deferments. I was not eligible for any other deferment, including fatherhood, since I had maxed them out with two years of 4-D (mission) and an additional 5 years of II-S (student). I was not even asking for hardship consideration. We filled it out anyway, answering frankly all of the questions but fully expecting rejection.
I have never ceased over the years feeling both amazed and blessed by the Selective Service's response: Class III-A, "extreme hardship deferment." I never felt that we were in any sense a hardship case, though some opinions might differ on that even today. But I was not about to go back to the Lord and ask for more acceptable terminology as we received what we believed was His answer to our prayers. We also owe a big thank you to Bonny Brae.
Never once over the years have I had regrets about not serving in the military. Many times, especially as I have spent some time at VA hospitals around LA and seen some of the wreckage of war first hand, my feelings about the evil of war in general and the Viet Nam conflict in particular have been reconfirmed. Objection to war was a good fit for me in 1970 and it still fits fine today.
The Selective Service responded to my letter announcing Bonny's birth that coming Fall by sending me an application for hardship deferment. I had read in the Handbook for Conscientious Objectors that a hardship deferment was the rarest of deferments. I was not eligible for any other deferment, including fatherhood, since I had maxed them out with two years of 4-D (mission) and an additional 5 years of II-S (student). I was not even asking for hardship consideration. We filled it out anyway, answering frankly all of the questions but fully expecting rejection.
I have never ceased over the years feeling both amazed and blessed by the Selective Service's response: Class III-A, "extreme hardship deferment." I never felt that we were in any sense a hardship case, though some opinions might differ on that even today. But I was not about to go back to the Lord and ask for more acceptable terminology as we received what we believed was His answer to our prayers. We also owe a big thank you to Bonny Brae.
Never once over the years have I had regrets about not serving in the military. Many times, especially as I have spent some time at VA hospitals around LA and seen some of the wreckage of war first hand, my feelings about the evil of war in general and the Viet Nam conflict in particular have been reconfirmed. Objection to war was a good fit for me in 1970 and it still fits fine today.
posted by HPT at 7:55 PM
6 Comments:
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Thanks for reading. This has to be Jacob as in Jacob and Amy, right?
i am impressed by how this seems to really strike a chord in the men on the blog. we don't usually elicit that many comments from the male factor. it also seems like it's something that has been in the back of everyone's mind for quite a while.
i guess because the possibilty of my serving in a war has always been remote, my feelings aren't so personal. (but i guess you could bring up something like childbirth and all the women talking will start talking.)
i am impressed with how well thought out your correspondence is and how deep your feelings run.
i think i will save this as well - it's important family history.
Yeah, that's Jacob K. Pretty sure.
Good point, Bonny. I feel the same way, actually, about my lack of passion for war or anti-war (I'm against it, but not to the point of activism--yet): I have never faced the prospect of going to war or one of my loved ones going to war, and I figure that's why although I am against war, I don't have much to say about it.
I am sure that if this happens I will become much more sure of myself, or at least think about it more.
I am glad that you wrote this all down. I only have remembered bits and pieces of hearing it over the years. So glad that you were able to stay home.
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