The Vietnam War was a time of sadness for many families across the country. In 1963 the Enrollment Act was made, it said that all males must get draft cards right after their 18th birthday (Surrey 13). If you had a significant job or you were in school, you would not get drafted. However, not everyone could afford college or get a significant job to keep from being drafted. There were not many scholarships being given out then, so the less wealthy didn't really have a way to avoid war. This caused a lot of controversy because the rich weren't getting drafted and the poor were (Surrey 67). .
Timmy J was a boy from a Sino, a small town in Texas. He came from a poor family, and they did not have the money to send him through college. Timmy's father died when he was just 4 years old, and Timmy was never told how he died. He was raised by his mother and his grandmother and he had a 14 year old sister. Many people who knew Timmy however, said Timmy loved his grandmother more than anyone else in the world.
Timmy was 17 years old when his senior year of high school started. Timmy was the star on Sino High School's football team. Timmy and his family prayed he would get a scholarship to play football in college. If Timmy got a scholarship he would not have to go to war when he turned 18 later that year and he would get a college education. Based on Timmy's sophomore and junior years .
of football at Sino High School, most people were pretty confident Timmy would be offered a scholarship somewhere to play football. He had been recruited by college coaches since his sophomore year. In Timmy's first football game of his senior year, Timmy broke his leg and couldn't play another game for the rest of the season. After his injury all colleges lost interest in recruiting him to play football for them. Timmy had no way of going to college because his mother and grandmother could not afford it.