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Horizons, v. 6, issue 2, whole no. 21, December 1944

Page 12

12

When the Foeman Bared His Steel

"Altho no study has been made, it seems that more fans were deferred from conscription than was true of their age group on the average." -- Fancyclopedia, page 93

I selected the FAPA membership list that appeared in the September, 1940, Fantasy Amateur, in an effort to find out with reasonable accuracy just how many grounds lie behind these deferment charges, which almost always refer to the allegedly over-large number of fans like myself in 4F, temporarily or permanently. While a larger cross-section of fandom would be desirable, you run into the difficultly that so many guys have been lost in the abysses of the non-fan world. This list covers a time just four years past, but before any U. S. fans could have been drafted or enlisted.

The FAPA, with a membership list of 50 theoretically, contained only 46 members at that time, outlandish though it may seem to ye who have been on the waiting list for so many weary months. Of these, seven were draft-deferred or exempt because of age, sex, or other non-physical reasons -- H. C. Koenig, Trudy Kuslan, Morojo, Pogo, J. Michael Rosenblum, Edwin Hadley Smith, and Tucker. Eight of the others I either have track of or am not certain about their status: Dick Crain, Tom Hoguet, and Dan McPhail have vanished, Singleton is an enigma but because of his work in Washington in all probability never took a draft exam, Robins is in the service my memory tells me but isn't listed in Le Zombie and I dare not list him conscientiously there; Schwartz, Swisher, and Edgar Allan Martin are still civilian the last I heard, but I don't know why.

Which leaves us 31 male, draftable, members from the 1940 FAPA list. Of them, 18 are now in the service, 12 in 4F, one honorably discharged from service. I am almost positive that I am correct in this calculation, but in case anyone wants to check me off: Serving, Ackermann, Agnew, Baltadonis, Carnell, Farsaci, Hart, Hodgkins, Kyle, Madle, Marconette, Miske, Pohl, Racic, Reinsberg, Rothman, Studley, Widner, and Wiggins. In 4F, beyond yr. humble publisher, are Chauvenet, the late Paul Freehafer, Louis Kuslan, Lowndes, Michel, Perdue, Speer, Sykora, Thompson, Train, and Wollheim. It must be noted that certain ones of these 12 could conceivably be civilians for other than physical reasons -- Louis Kuslan, Sykora, Thompson, and Train -- but I'm giving the opposition the benefit of the doubt; and we know that the other 18 are definitely in the service. SaM, of course, is the gent who is back in civilian life after a year's soldiering. 

Now, the thing that should conclude this report is a comparison with national figures on acceptances and rejections for physical reasons. Unfortunately, I haven't been able to dig them up; the library here possesses a 400-page unindexed report entitled "Selective Service in Wartime" which might contain them, but I haven't the heart to tackle them. The latest I could find in way of figures was from late 1942, at which time 8,717,000 men had been inducted, 3,412,000 were rejected for physical deficiencies, or otherwise placed in 4F.

I respectfully submit that this shows that FAPA members, at least, aren't appreciably less healthy than the rest of the nation. A certain percentage of the 3,412,000 had been turned down for lack of education; but that is counterbalanced by the probability that at least one of the "doubtful" 4Fs mentioned above isn't in that class at all. It should also be noted that the FAPA's nature makes it the most appealing fan activity to fans who are less than physically perfect; and that its average of members' age would probably turn out higher than that of any other list of fans, draft rejections naturally rising with the age of the individual.

To sum it all up, rejections for FAPA members have been higher than those for the nation as a whole, but not significantly so, and most of this difference would vanish if a similar check were made on, for instance, the subscription list of a top fanzine of 1940. I'm inclined to think that the remaining difference is solely the result of occasional fans who are active because of some extreme physical handicap or complete lack of adjustment with the world -- like mine -- and not an indication of a basic weakness of the body in Joe Fann.

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12 When the Foeman Bared His Steel "Altho no study has been made, it seems that more fans were deferred from conscription than was true of their age group on the average." -- Fancyclopedia, page 93 I selected the FAPA membership list that appeared in the September, 1940, Fantasy Amateur, in an effort to find out with reasonable accuracy just how many grounds lie behind these deferment charges, which almost always refer to the allegedly over-large number of fans like myself in 4F, temporarily or permanently. While a larger cross-section of fandom would be desirable, you run into the difficultly that so many guys have been lost in the abysses of the non-fan world. This list covers a time just four years past, but before any U. S. fans could have been drafted or enlisted. The FAPA, with a membership list of 50 theoretically, contained only 46 members at that time, outlandish though it may seem to ye who have been on the waiting list for so many weary months. Of these, seven were draft-deferred or exempt because of age, sex, or other non-physical reasons -- H. C. Koenig, Trudy Kuslan, Morojo, Pogo, J. Michael Rosenblum, Edwin Hadley Smith, and Tucker. Eight of the others I either have track of or am not certain about their status: Dick Crain, Tom Hoguet, and Dan McPhail have vanished, Singleton is an enigma but because of his work in Washington in all probability never took a draft exam, Robins is in the service my memory tells me but isn't listed in Le Zombie and I dare not list him conscientiously there; Schwartz, Swisher, and Edgar Allan Martin are still civilian the last I heard, but I don't know why. Which leaves us 31 male, draftable, members from the 1940 FAPA list. Of them, 18 are now in the service, 12 in 4F, one honorably discharged from service. I am almost positive that I am correct in this calculation, but in case anyone wants to check me off: Serving, Ackermann, Agnew, Baltadonis, Carnell, Farsaci, Hart, Hodgkins, Kyle, Madle, Marconette, Miske, Pohl, Racic, Reinsberg, Rothman, Studley, Widner, and Wiggins. In 4F, beyond yr. humble publisher, are Chauvenet, the late Paul Freehafer, Louis Kuslan, Lowndes, Michel, Perdue, Speer, Sykora, Thompson, Train, and Wollheim. It must be noted that certain ones of these 12 could conceivably be civilians for other than physical reasons -- Louis Kuslan, Sykora, Thompson, and Train -- but I'm giving the opposition the benefit of the doubt; and we know that the other 18 are definitely in the service. SaM, of course, is the gent who is back in civilian life after a year's soldiering. Now, the thing that should conclude this report is a comparison with national figures on acceptances and rejections for physical reasons. Unfortunately, I haven't been able to dig them up; the library here possesses a 400-page unindexed report entitled "Selective Service in Wartime" which might contain them, but I haven't the heart to tackle them. The latest I could find in way of figures was from late 1942, at which time 8,717,000 men had been inducted, 3,412,000 were rejected for physical deficiencies, or otherwise placed in 4F. I respectfully submit that this shows that FAPA members, at least, aren't appreciably less healthy than the rest of the nation. A certain percentage of the 3,412,000 had been turned down for lack of education; but that is counterbalanced by the probability that at least one of the "doubtful" 4Fs mentioned above isn't in that class at all. It should also be noted that the FAPA's nature makes it the most appealing fan activity to fans who are less than physically perfect; and that its average of members' age would probably turn out higher than that of any other list of fans, draft rejections naturally rising with the age of the individual. To sum it all up, rejections for FAPA members have been higher than those for the nation as a whole, but not significantly so, and most of this difference would vanish if a similar check were made on, for instance, the subscription list of a top fanzine of 1940. I'm inclined to think that the remaining difference is solely the result of occasional fans who are active because of some extreme physical handicap or complete lack of adjustment with the world -- like mine -- and not an indication of a basic weakness of the body in Joe Fann.