Where were you during the Fractious Sixties?

by Jeff Olsen

"Hell no, we won't go!" - chants of anti-war protesters during the Vietnam War in the 1960s

It was a time of unrest and mayhem, particularly in the big cities and universities, but not in rural America.

For healthy young men ages 19 to 26 and especially high school seniors, the military draft hung over their heads like a two-ton anvil.

Some dodged it, some were conscientious objectors, others claimed they were homosexuals, and still others paid doctors to find the right medical alibi.

Or they even got married.

For a while, being married was a solid gold exemption during the early...