Did asthma keep Joe from taking on Corn Pipe?
Biden deferred, disqualified from Vietnam duty
Randall Chase, Associated Press Published 4:00 am PDT, Monday, September 1, 2008
Democratic vice presidential nominee Joe Biden received five student draft deferments during the Vietnam War, the same number of deferments received by Vice President Dick Cheney, and later was disqualified from service because of earlier asthma.
Officials with Democratic presidential nominee Barack Obama's campaign released Biden's Selective Service records at the request of the Associated Press. Less detailed records were available from a National Archives facility in Philadelphia.
According to the documents, Biden, 65, received several deferments while he was an undergraduate at the University of Delaware and later as a law student at Syracuse University. A month after undergoing a physical exam in 1968, Biden received a Selective Service classification of 1-Y, meaning he was available for service only in the event of national emergency.
"As a result of a physical exam on April 5, 1968, Joe Biden was classified 1-Y and disqualified from service because of asthma as a teenager," said David Wade, a campaign spokesman.
