I wish I could remember the details, I know it was tough going through basic after it started and doing everything in boots, especially since I was a top physical guy, but it evidently worked itself out at some point.
But,as I suggested...it's easy to see why the Army wouldn't have wanted him. I joined rather than wait to be drafted so I don't know if they could have said something like "OK,we'll draft you and fix the problem once you're in". I don't know if anything like that was ever done.