Featured Image Credit: New York Military Academy
Topics: Donald Trump, US News, Iran, Israel, Military
Ellie Kemp
Topics: Donald Trump, US News, Iran, Israel, Military
Donald Trump was exempt from being drafted in the Vietnam War due to a 'common' medical condition that appeared to have cured itself.
The topic of war has cropped up in recent weeks amid the escalating conflict between the US and Isreal, and Iran.
The former two countries launched strikes on targets in Tehran on February 28, throwing the Middle East into turmoil.
The US carried out 'Operation Epic Fury,' which resulted in the death of Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei.
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Iran has reported at least 555 fatalities, including 180 people said to have been killed at a girls’ elementary school.
In response, Iran launched retaliatory strikes on US bases in neighboring countries.
It has reportedly cost the US $6 billion for just one week of fighting, according to US defense officials.
The escalation has had people worried about being drafted for another war.
And it turns out Donald Trump himself managed to avoid being drafted for the Vietnam War, which ran between November 1955 and April 1975.
He recieved four deferements for being a college student, and a fifth and final one due to a health condition.
The condition in question is called bone spurs, also known as osteophytes.
According to the Cleveland Clinic, bone spurs is an 'extra growths of bone tissue that appear like smooth lumps on the outsides of your bones.'
Apparently they’re common and don’t often cause any issues, but could cause symptoms if they irritate your soft tissues, interfere with the movement of a joint or put pressure on a nearby nerve.
Trump was diagnosed after graduating the University of Pennsylvania in 1968, just as he could've finally been drafted for the war.
It resulted in him recieving a 1-Y medical deferment, which prevented him from military service.
Some 300,000 troops were dispatched to Southeast Asia that same year, according to the New York Times.
In a 2016 interview witht the same publication, Trump said the bone spurs had been 'temporary' and were a 'minor malady that had not had a meaningful impact on him.'
“I had a doctor that gave me a letter — a very strong letter on the heels,” he claimed.
However Trump could not recall the doctor's name, nor reproduce the letter for the Times.
It comes as people have called for Trump's son, Barron, to be drafted into the military and fight for the US should forces be dispatched on the ground in Iran.
The 19-year-old is almost half a foot taller than the rest of the family, a 2.06 meters.
The hashtag 'SendBarron' went viral on social media a couple of days ago, reigniting a debate surrounding sending presidents' children into battle.
The US government explains that 'almost all' men aged between 18 and 25 years old who live in the country must register for Selective Service.