A Drafted Minor

Annotation

The track "A Drafted Minor" (D.C.A. Records # 101) focused on the discrepancy between the draft age and such things as the voting age, the drinking age, and the ability to take out a loan and drive a car in the US. Narrated from the perspective of a soldier, the singer told the listener that he received a draft card from Uncle Sam to "fight for his country" and, thus he "went to Vietnam". There he saw his friends die. The song fits into the anti-draft camp, and also leans towards the anti-war side of the debate. The song referred to 1-A - this was the classification for those "eligible for military service", established in 1971 (under the Military Selective Service Act of 1967). The other classifications were 1-AO (Conscientious Objector available for non-combatant military service), and 1-O (Conscientious Objector available for alternate community service). This 1971 amendment also required all males to register within a period of 30 days before of 29 days after their 18th birthday. It should be noted that the voting age was eventually extended for the 1972 presidential election.

Annotation by Justin A. Brummer

Lyrics

English: I received my draft-card, Uncle Sam... / Said fight for your country / So I went to Vietnam / Now I watch my buddies die / Now do you think it's right to tell us we are too young to vote, but old enough to die / A minor, I'm a minor, just a crazy teenage kid... / Makes me wonder why my draft-card reads 1-A... / They always show me the door when I walk into a bar / I guess they want me sober when they send me off to war... / I'm not old enough to borrow money from the bank / Too young to buy an auto, old enough to drive a tank

Notes

D.C.A. Records 101, matrix DCA-101A, "D. J. Copy", "Dist. by Chart Records, Inc."; "A Drafted Minor" (Roshell Frazher), 3:00, John Durham Pub. Co., BMI. [From the record sleeve and labels]

Themes

Anti-War · Draft

In collections

Draft Songs · Peace, Protest, & Anti-War Songs [War Years]