The Jon Stebbins Thread
Rocker:
Quote from: Jon Stebbins on April 29, 2006, 10:48:53 AM
How do you say Surf's Up in German?
Oh, you don't want to know. That would sound real awful in german... :)
donald:
vague en haut
Mike Love mange des vers
busy doin nothin:
Jon --
I have a question that has long intrigued me, and I thought you might be the best candidate to know the answer. My question is how each of the Beach Boys specifically resolved their status under the military draft.
I believe that Carl formally asserted conscientious objector status, was arrested at one time for not appearing before his draft board (or something similar), and then eventually negotiated some kind of a settlement with the government in which he got CO status and had to do community service. I don't know if this is correct, however.
I have always assumed, without ever seeing any documentation, that Brian was 4-F because of his ear, although it would be ironic to have hearing good enough to be one of the greatest musical geniuses of all time but not good enough to serve in the military!
I have no idea what happened with Denny. I'm not aware of any physical or medical condition that would have exempted him.
Mike, I'm guessing, was exempted because he was married with a child by age 20 and the draft at that time (around 1961) was not calling up as many conscripts because Vietnam hadn't heated up yet.
I don't know about Al . . . .
Anyway, if you can shed any light on this issue I would greatly appreciate it. It is a subject that has always interested me, but is not really discussed in any BB bios I've read. I deeply admire Carl's principled stand on the issue. The 60s were a tough time to be a young man in many respects.
Jon Stebbins:
Quote from: busy doin nothin on May 15, 2006, 07:54:36 AM
Jon --
I have a question that has long intrigued me, and I thought you might be the best candidate to know the answer. My question is how each of the Beach Boys specifically resolved their status under the military draft.
I believe that Carl formally asserted conscientious objector status, was arrested at one time for not appearing before his draft board (or something similar), and then eventually negotiated some kind of a settlement with the government in which he got CO status and had to do community service. I don't know if this is correct, however.
I have always assumed, without ever seeing any documentation, that Brian was 4-F because of his ear, although it would be ironic to have hearing good enough to be one of the greatest musical geniuses of all time but not good enough to serve in the military!
I have no idea what happened with Denny. I'm not aware of any physical or medical condition that would have exempted him.
Mike, I'm guessing, was exempted because he was married with a child by age 20 and the draft at that time (around 1961) was not calling up as many conscripts because Vietnam hadn't heated up yet.
I don't know about Al . . . .
Anyway, if you can shed any light on this issue I would greatly appreciate it. It is a subject that has always interested me, but is not really discussed in any BB bios I've read. I deeply admire Carl's principled stand on the issue. The 60s were a tough time to be a young man in many respects.
The story I always heard about Dennis is that he tried having a friend pee in his jar and he got caught, they questioned his mental stability as a result. But this is anecdotal.
Dave Marks was drafted in '67 and was all but sure that he was going to Vietnam, but when he got his military physical a serious ulcer was found in his stomach lining.
Carl was drafted around the same time and of course was a well publicized conscientious objector.
Brian had nearly 100% hearing loss in one ear, he was in the clear.
Mike had at least two children by the mid-sixties, maybe more.
Al, I'm not sure, however since Mike, Brian and Al were all in their late twenties by the late sixites they weren't as much at risk as David, Carl and Dennis...who were all prime age at the peak of the Vietnam draft.
Bruce...no clue...he came from a wealthy family...a fortunate son....maybe that helped.
Emdeeh:
Quote from: Jon Stebbins
Bruce...no clue...he came from a wealthy family...a fortunate son....maybe that helped.
As I understand it, from back in the day, Bruce fell into the "sole surviving son" category. His mother was widowed and he was her only son (two older daughters).
IIRC, Al was exempt because he was married at the time when he was most vulnerable to the draft. One thing we need to remember is that draft exemptions kept changing, which is why Carl, also a married man, wasn't exempt when his time rolled around.
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