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Cassius Clay inducted into US
Army by Steve Payne
 Author
says: what if Muhammad Ali created a rumble in the jungle in Vietnam?
Please note that the opinions expressed in this post do not necessarily
reflect the views of the author(s).
On April 27th, 1967:
on this day Cassius Marcellus Clay Jr. was drafted into the United
States Army at the military induction center in Louisville, Kentucky.
Watch The Politics of Muhammad Ali
Three years before, his writing and spelling skills had
been considered below par, resulting in a failure to pass the Armed Forces
qualifying test. But when those tests were later revised in early 1966, a
reclassified score of 1A meant that he was now eligible for the draft.
Following two tours of duty in Vietnam, he was awarded the Congressional
Medal of Honour for outstanding bravery in combat. But shortly after his
return to the United States, he was refused service at a "whites-only"
restaurant after being told they did not serve black men. Having responded
that he did not intend to eat one, he ending up fighting with a white gang
and later that evening threw his medal into the Ohio River.
Shortly after this incident, he joined the Vietnam Veterans Against the War
where he formed a relationship with another angry young man by the name of
John Forbes Kerry who had also thrown his medals away in disgust. Invited to
speak in front of the Fulbright Hearing held by the Senate Foreign Relations
Committee, both Clay and Kerry would make a number of controversial
statements that would cause immense problems for the Westmoreland White
House as it sought to win the peace in Vietnam.
Author
says please note that content was substantially repurposed from the
source article on
Wikipedia.
To view guest historian's comments on this post please visit the
Today in Alternate History web site.
Other Contemporary Stories
Steve Payne, Editor of Today in
Alternate History, a Daily Updating Blog of Important Events In History
That Never Occurred Today. Follow us on
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Imagine what would be, if history had occurred a bit
differently. Who says it didn't, somewhere? These fictional news items
explore that possibility. Possibilities such as America becoming a Marxist
superpower, aliens influencing human history in the 18th century and Teddy
Roosevelt winning his 3rd term as president abound in this interesting
fictional blog.
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