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  • 2012-04-20 (xsd:date)
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  • Did Ted Nugent Dodge the Draft? (en)
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  • If various rock 'n' roll memoirs are to be believed, nearly every American musical group of the 1960s had at least one member who evaded the Vietnam-era draft by scheming to fail a physical examination through some combination of drug use, sleep deprivation, neglected hygiene, deliberate starvation, feigned homosexuality, and assumed bizarre behavior. Johnny Rogan's biography of the Byrds, for example, describes such plotting by two of the group's members, frontman Gene Clark and drummer Michael Clarke: In an interview with published by High Times magazine in 1977, Ted Nugent claimed he had engaged in similar behavior to deliberately fail a physical exam in 1967 and be qualified 4-F (not acceptable for military service): Questioned about that account some thirty years later (by which time Nugent was known as a staunch political conservative, a supporter of the Republican Party, and an advocate of hunting and gun ownership rights) in an interview with the UK's Independent newspaper, Nugent disclaimed that previous account of his draft-evading activities as story he had made up and fed to a gullible High Times reporter and asserted that he actually had avoided the draft through the legitimate means of a student deferment: Clearly, though, Ted Nugent didn't make up the tale about his snorting crystal meth before his pre-induction physical as a one-off jape just to fool a High Times reporter, as he said the same thing in an interview with CREEM magazine: An analysis of Ted Nugent's Selective Service classification record doesn't prove or disprove either version of the story. He did indeed receive a high school student deferment (1-S) in 1967 and then (as he stated) a college student deferment (2-S) in 1968. However, he was reclassified as available for military service (1-A) in 1969 and then subsequently rejected as a result of a physical examination and given a 1-Y classification. (The 1-Y classification denoted persons qualified for service only in time of war or national emergency and was generally assigned to registrants who had exhibited medical conditions that were limiting but not disabling.) After the 1-Y classification was eliminated by the Selective Service at the end of 1971, Nugent was reclassified as 4-F (registrant not qualified for any military service). So, Ted Nugent did have a student deferment for part of the time he was eligible for the Vietnam-era draft, but he also did fail a physical examination and receive a medical exemption (which, as far as we know, he has neither acknowledged nor explained). But in the absence of more specific information about the results of that physical examination and the reasons for his medical exemption, it cannot be ascertained how truthful the account Nugent gave to High Times magazine back in 1977 might be. (Ted Nugent's press representative did not respond to a request for additional information about this subject.) (en)
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