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You beat me to the punch! I saw all manner of devices used at the induction center in Oakland in 1967, including using illegal drugs. Some guys even claimed that they were queer, so that the wouldn't be inducted. Most of us were scared but not all of us were cowards. By the way, I went to Vietnam with a kid who was no bigger than Reich. Who's providing this information about his ineligibility?

4'10" kept you out except under some very special circumstances. If you met a guy that short, he had to really want to be there and more than one doctor had to falsify the records.

This URL will point you to material that will link you to the standards:

http://usmilitary.about.com/library/milinfo/intmedstandards/blintmedstandards.htm

Or, maybe this one would be better although it's kind of Infantry specific and we are rather special people:

http://www.benning.army.mil/usapfs/Policy/AR40-501.pdf

The latter states: 220. Height The causes for rejection are as follows:

a. Men: Height below 60 inches or over 80 inches.

b. Women: Height below 58 inches or over 80 inches.

All Reich would have needed to do to get into the military was undergo a sex change operation!

It is generally considered going way beyond the call of patriotism to sever one's penis.

I had to laugh. When I went through the induction line they were taking blood, and the guy who was taking mine could't find a vein. He punctured me three times and the blood was running down my arm when the guy behind me fainted. (I swear to God.) When I think about it now, what I wouldn't have done to have someone like Reich behind me, he'd have been scared, all right; hell, I thought they were going to kill me!