Dodging the draft board

At the height of the Joe Lundy for State Representative campaign in 1972, John Blihovde, the 19-year-old campaign manager, was called before the Draft Board for a physical exam and for possible mandatory military service, including fighting in the Vietnam War.

There was a time not long ago when boys, upon reaching the age of eighteen, were required to serve in the United States military. The country wasn’t asking. It was ordering.

For a time, college students were deferred – they didn’t have to answer the call while they were in school. Well, Blihovde wasn’t a student and he was not protected. Lundy wrote a letter asking for the physical to be delayed until after the election. The draft board refused the request.

So, John reported to the Selective Service office where he weighed in at 98 pounds. Soldiers had to weigh at least one hundred pounds to serve. He was told to return in two days for another weigh-in.

Many smaller men had tried to enlist in the military during World War II but were turned away because they weighed less than one hundred pounds.  So, they ate everything they could to get their weight over the required minimum.

Blihovde did the opposite. He ate only enough to not get sick so he would fall short of the minimum once again. He succeeded and avoided military service. And Lundy won the election.