How did the members of the The Doors avoid the Draft?

Ray Manzarek (keyboard): Ray actually chose to serve in the military. He was currently in college to be an attorney and disliked it, so he decided to do the mandatory time in the military. He went in 1962 though, so he did not serve in Vietnam (as the war didn't start until later). Instead, he went to Thailand. I remember reading that he mostly played the keyboard to entertain the other soldiers and did some filming for them since he was interested in it and wanted to go to college for that after he left. Here's a quote from The Doors coffee table book regarding what Ray's captain said about his time in the military, "Manzarek, some people are just not meant for military service. You are a rake and a reprobate. Not to mention sexually perverse. We don't need you in the U.S. Army." With that, Ray left back to UCLA where he met Jim and formed the band.

Robby Krieger (Guitar): One of Robby's family members was a doctor. This allowed Robby to have a note or letter of some sort documenting that Robby was unfit/unable to be in the military. Due to this, Robby was not selected.

John Densmore (Percussion): John and Jim actually went to the drafting place together, and John wrote about it in his book, Riders on the Storm. John basically told the people that he was gay, and was excused from the draft.

Jim Morrison (vocals/main writer): Jim's cause is much less definite than the other members. As I said earlier, John was with him so he got to see some extent of how Jim was portraying himself in order to not get drafted. John said that the day Jim went there he was really f***** up. John guessed that he had a lot of drinks and some drugs to "prep" himself for the draft call. Jim entered the room, and when he came out it was said that the military did not want someone like that. I am guessing that he just acted very insane/weird and probably said he was gay and threw in some obscenities, allowing him to be asked to stay away from the military. John said that when he saw Jim, he was acting very insane, which is probably the main reason he was not selected for the draft.

*Just to add: by this time, Jim was not in contact with his father. If anything, Jim's father would be furious that he was avoiding the draft. This wouldn't go over well with someone in the military, especially someone as high ranking and prestigious as an admiral.

Jim Morrison was born in 1943. He was too old to be drafted. The first lottery was drawn on December 1, 1969 for men born between 1944 and 1950. John Densmore was born Dec 1, 1944. His number was 129. He should have gone since the highest number called that year was 195. If all it took to get out of going to Vietnam was telling them you were gay, all the guys that didn't want to go would do that. It was not that simple. Not many rock and roll band members went to Vietnam, for some reason..

There is a lot of speculation on how Jim Morrison "got out of it". He was drafted but he failed the psyc exam. Rumors are that he indicated he was a homosexual or sexual deviant ... as for the rest of the band I've never heard anything.

Maybe because Jim Morrison's father was an admiral in the Navy.

They all served, but died in battle.