I initially refused to comply with the draft, and spent three years "on the lam" after my student deferment ran out. I had a high-enough draft lottery number and was officially "delinquent."

When I finally got busted by the FBI, I prepared an application for discharge as a conscientious objector before presenting myself for induction. I was 25 years old when I went through basic training with a bunch of 18-year-olds at the end of 1972; we were the last "class" of draftees before the draft ended as of January 1, 1973.

Because I had an "administrative action" pending (my request for discharge), I could not be transferred from the site of my basic training, Fort Dix, NJ. After New Years of 1973, Dix was a virtual ghost town -- it had been a training base, and now there were no more trainees. I worked as a clerk-typist (non-combatant) while waiting for my paperwork to be processed. My job was to figure out how to get a couple hundred names off the books -- guys who had disappeared, never been transferred to another base or discharged. It looked like I wasn't getting out of the Army until I figured out how to get all these other guys -- "ghosts" -- out first.

After about six months with no progress toward consideration of my application, I went AWOL for a couple of months. I was married when I came back (still am, by the way, to the same girl). I spent about a half-hour in a cell and went right back to my clerk job. Apparently, I was missed.

Another few months went by before I got my discharge. I was turned down for conscientious objector status, but did receive a full honorable discharge "for the convenience of the government." I had served 11 months active over a period of 13 months (including 2 months absent without leave).

I went into the experience somewhat nervously, and was singled out for some minor harrassment at first. I stood up to it OK, earned the grudging respect of most of my superiors, and influenced a number of my younger fellow-draftees to declare themselves pacifists as well. Especially after training was over and I was working as a clerk, I got to know many officers and NCOs who had been through combat, and I certainly had plenty of personal respect for them and their experiences, regardless of how I may have disagreed with some of their choices and opinions.

I managed to survive, in the end, which was my main concern. The fact that I wound up passing through military service in a deliberately limited fashion was little more than an inconvenience. Technically, I suppose that I am a "Vietnam-era veteran," but I don't represent myself as such. Looking back, it's impossible to say how much of my opposition to the war was moral steadfastness and how much was simple self-preservation; both elements were part of the mix.