Featured Image Credit: Getty/Bettman
Topics: Donald Trump, US News, World News, Politics, Health, Celebrity
Rhianna Benson
Topics: Donald Trump, US News, World News, Politics, Health, Celebrity
Between 1955-1973, millions of young American men were drafted into the US Army as part of the war against Vietnam.
Despite being of appropriate age to venture into battle during the worst year of the international conflict, 22-year-old Donald Trump remained at home in the States with his family.
But what special circumstances allowed this 6'2, athletically-built college student - who would go on to become the first-ever convicted felon to become president - to evade fighting for his country?
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Trump was in his early twenties during the most deadly years of the Vietnam War.
In 1968, a particularly bloody year in Southeast Asia, a gut-wrenching 16,899 Americans were killed. Meanwhile, the 22-year-old future-politician was celebrating his graduation from college.
The New York-born businessman had already avoided being drafted four times by this point, seen as being in college was grounds for defering at the time - according to his 2016 biography, Trump Revealed: An American Journey of Ambition, Ego, Money, and Power.
Weeks prior to his long-awaited graduation, however, and another round of conscription was ordered.
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Thankfully for Trump, however, he'd soon be diagnosed with a health condition that would see him avoid going to war for the fifth time.
In 1968, the father-of-five was told by medics he suffered from bone spurs.
Bone spurs describe growths that form in your joints or in the spine that can cause damage to other bones, as well as muscles, or tendons.
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And in Trump's case, the diagnosis rendered him unfit for military service, allowing him to defer for the fifth time and permitting him to, instead, work for his father's firm.
According to the New York Times, Trump suffered specifically from 'heel spurs'.
Dr. Elysa Braunstein - the daughter of late foot doctor Dr. Larry Braunstein - told the news outlet that her father had once rented a room from Donald's dad, Fred Trump. "I know it was a favour," she alleged, adding of Trump's heel: "But did he examine him? I don’t know."
When asked about his ailment in recent years, Trump, now 78, told The Times he never needed surgery on his foot.
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"Over a period of time, it healed up," he told the publication.
Draft deferment was common at the time, especially among affluent families whose kids were in college or hard large influence.
Aside from medical reasons and college attendance, other reasons that allowed men to avoid joining the army included getting married and having children.