Paul Simon - Draft Dodger?

[bainbrig]

Paul Simon was in the UK in the late 60s, before he was widely famous.

Was he a draft dodger?

BB

[KARL]

I may have this a bit wrong, but not only were people and the media very interested in the subject and followed the trails of people abroad, especially if they were or later became interested but also the US government put those who were called up but didn't turn up on a list of criminals or semi-. I have never come across any suggestion that he or Art had been called up and absconded from the reach of the law - I would have thought such a record would have hounded them both (or either separately) to this day.

[maggiebee]

What a strange question. Does anyone really care after 50 years?

[bainbrig]

Nah, that’s right. 50 years ago? Blimey, we’ll be discussing 2nd World War crimes next! History?

[Flonska]

An unofficial source suggests that the way the US military draft worked in the 1960s before the draft lottery in 1969 was that each registration district had a quota to meet. If the district did not make its quota through volunteers, it could begin drafting registrants. The draft worked in age order: 18 years olds first, then 19 year olds, etc., until the quota was met. It was rare that a district had to go past 21-year-olds. Paul Simon was born in 1941 and maybe it was simply the case that the quota for his district was filled before his name would have been included in the list of draftees?

[bainbrig]

Just wondered. His politics always seemed a bit vague, and when I read a recent review describing him as 'anti-war' in those days, I raised an eyebrow, as when I met him back in the 60s, he certainly didn't seem a militant 'hell no, we won't go' type....

BB

[ABerrant]

"The draft worked in age order: 18 years olds first, then 19 year olds, etc.,"

The draft worked in reverse age order of the eligible age range 25-18½ and using a fitness rating. On turning 26 you 'aged out' of the selection process.

Thus Paul Simon was most likely to be drafted at age 25 i.e. October 1966 to October 67. In that period about 250,000 were conscripted from a pool of approximately 27 million.

During 1964 and 1965 he was living in England, only moving back to the US in January 1966 (age 24) following the surprise success of “The Sound of Silence”.

[Islay]

Trump is a draft dodger