War Worries Ken Griffey Sr. -- He Remembers Vietnam, Frets About Sons

Before leaving for spring training, Ken Griffey Sr. couldn't resist watching CNN, couldn't help but think of his two sons - couldn't avoid remembering Vietnam.

It all started coming back. The friend who was shot in the shoulder in Vietnam. The friend who lost an arm and a leg. The friend who was killed by a booby trap.

There is a war going on as Griffey enters his 23rd professional baseball season, just as there was during his first. Then, with a career and a marriage just starting and a child prodigy on the way, he was worried about being drafted for a war he didn't understand. Uncle Sam wrote to him and scheduled his physical, but the Reds helped him find sanctuary in the reserves.

Now, he is worried Uncle Sam one day soon will summon his sons.

Ken Jr. is 21 and a teammate with the Mariners. Craig is 19 and a football player at Ohio State. If the ground war begins, the casualties could get heavy. If the ground war lasts, a draft could ensue. If the draft comes, Junior or Craig could go.

Hours before leaving for spring training the other day, Griffey said he could keep fairly calm about it because there is no draft. But the inevitability of an approaching ground war was unsettling.

``If one has to go, I'll be a nervous wreck,'' he said. ``I've been thinking about it, especially of my younger son, because his grades are borderline. If he dropped out, he'd lose his exemption. I hope he does a heck of a job to stay in school.''

Ken Sr. didn't see that option in his day. A multisport high-school athlete in Donora, Pa., the all-state wide receiver was recruited for football, but grades were a problem. Marshall University was the only Division I college interested in him for baseball but wanted to talk him into playing football.

His cousin, Larry Nelson, was a Marshall linebacker and had steered the coaches toward Griffey.

Fortunately, Griffey said no. In 1970, the Marshall football team was killed in an airplane crash. If you think he was lucky, consider this: Nelson was kicked off the team just days before the crash.

Griffey signed with the Cincinnati Reds, who had drafted him in Round 29 in June 1969, and he batted .281 that year with Bradenton, Fla. That year, he also received word to report to Pittsburgh's Federal Building in September for his physical. The letter wasn't a shock; he had turned 19 in April and the letter only took that long because he had repeated fourth grade, so he graduated from high school a year late.

Now what?

``I didn't know exactly what to do,'' Griffey said. ``I tried to get in college, because they said you would be exempt from the draft, but I didn't know how.

``I said, `Hey, if I've got to go (to war), I've got to go. I'll do my best not to get blown up.' I thought about it and thought about it, but it didn't affect how I played ball.''

The Reds stepped in with a solution. Assistant farm director Sal Artiaga recommended he join the reserves so he could keep playing. Farm director Sheldon Bender convinced him. Griffey said it's the only time he took advantage of being black.

``They had a two-year wait for the reserves unless you were a minority,'' he said. ``I really didn't have much of a choice. It was either that or go to Vietnam.''

Jan. 1, 1970, Griffey reported to basic training in Fort Leonard Wood, Mo. ``At that time, it was getting close to the end, but it was still real violent,'' he said. ``All they told you about was killing.''

He never went to war, but he and the handful of others headed for the reserves trained for it, same as those headed for Vietnam and alongside those destined for Vietnam, who resented the reservists.

``It was almost like we were draft dodgers,'' Griffey said. ``It was like the gangs in L.A. We got into a lot of scuffles.''

But today's war is different, Griffey said. This time, the objective is clearer. ``To this day,'' he said, ``I still wonder what Vietnam was all about.''

This time, whether you support America's role in the Gulf War, support for the troops is overwhelming. Griffey said he supports America's part ``100 percent.''

``If Junior or Craig go over there, I might have a different view,'' he said, ``although I'd still support what's going on.''

Griffey knows it is easy for him to talk now. His sons aren't in the military. If they were placed in the same position he was 22 years ago, he'd advise them to follow his lead.

``The problem now is, they're taking all the reserves because there's no draft,'' he said. ``I might advise Junior to go to college.''

Meanwhile, a concerned father sits and watches CNN every night - ``It's the only thing I watch'' - and feels for all those who have relatives stationed in the Persian Gulf region. You wonder if he prays that his sons don't have to join in the war.

``You pray, period,'' he said.