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One, that he meant that he graduated in 1979 and then, as an 18 year-old in 1980 had to register, or, two, he’s lying by saying he had to register in 1979, or, three, he knows he had to register after he graduated and thought he did that after he graduated in 1979 but he’s just mistaken and actually did so in 1980.

BO's/BS's statement: “I had to sign up for Selective Service when I graduated from high school…in 1979.”

His statement leaves no room for ambiguity and therefore eliminates the first possibility. Registering for the draft is not something one forgets. He graduated in May or June of 1979 but didn't have to register until August of 1980. That's too long a gap to confuse and blur the time line.

When people speak in conversation they are often inexact. He said he had to register with the selective service when he GRADUATED IN 1979. He could have meant AFTER HE GRADUATED IN 1979 or he spoke what’s called a misplaced modifier. Karen: “I went over to talk to Mary after I heard about the accident.” If the question is what date did Karen speak to Mary in some connection with the accident, more information is needed because we don’t know when Karen heard about the accident and we don’t know how long Karen waited to go speak to Mary. Similarly, we don’t know from zero’s statement how much time he claims passed from the time he graduated until he had to register. If he did in fact register, he may have connected the event as occurring after graduation, which would be accurate even though it didn’t take place upon graduation. He graduated at 17, turned 18 two months later and would still have been 18 when he allegedly registered. Since we think of most young men registering at 18, that may have him thinking the registration was closer in time to graduation than it was, if in fact it happened.

This also ostensibly occurred 30+ years ago, so misremembering the date by a year, especially if it was still close in time to his graduation, say, a year or less, and he was in the age group that had to register in 1980, it would not be unusual for somebody to be off by a year. When my old friends and I talk about some event thirty years ago, even though they were memorable events, we often have small arguments about when something happened because we connect it to additional events such as what apartment one or the other of us was living in at the time, or one’s brother had just gotten out of the marines (but really it was a year after he got out of the marines), or what car we were in and when that car was owned, etc.. So there are often humorous disputes about when something occurred (a trip we took or something very memorable that happened at a party, for example). Memories are not exact and we connect events to other events that may not have been as contemporaneous as we remember them as being.

I’m not defending him and I’m not saying he’s not lying. What I AM saying is that people should remain objective, examine the possibilities and use common sense when evaluating these things before ginning up yet another conspiracy theory.