Draft Dodger Diary

Draft Dodger Diary is loosely based on my experience as a U.S. Army reservist in 1963. I volunteered to become a reservist after leaving Brooklyn College because a national draft existed at the time and since I wasn't married or worked for the government, I was eligible to be drafted. I didn't want to spend two years in the military when I could opt out with an honorable discharge after six months of active duty and serve 5 1/2 years of inactive duty as a civilian. It is precisely the reason why the career drill sergeants called reservists like me draft dodgers. As a recruit, you're virtually trapped in one isolated barracks for eight weeks during basic training. You bond with other recruits. You're abused verbally by drill instructor sergeants. You exist in simulated wartime conditions. And you can't contact the outside world as they attempt to make you warrior-tough, The Ultimate Weapon. You can go stir crazy and weird, especially after 14 grueling hours of physical exercises and unappetizing food. Speaking of food, they sent me to cook school and made me a cook and that's the second part of my novel, the funnier, surreal part. Some of the characters I created have been melded into one person, others imagined, and everything has been embellished and heightened for maximum effect. The various situations my protagonist Marty Berg, encounters, are somber, poignant, funny, surreal, absurd -- typical army. As you read Draft Dodger Diary, put yourself in Marty Berg's shoes and imagine what you would do in the various crises and situations he finds himself in. And most of all, enjoy.