Early Life
Udall was born in St. Johns, Apache County, Arizona, a son of Louisa (née Lee) and Levi Stewart Udall. He lost his right eye to a friend's pocket knife at the age of 6, while the two were attempting to cut some string, and wore a glass eye for the rest of his life. He attempted to enlist in the Army early in World War II, and almost succeeded, by covering his glass eye each time he was told to alternate during the eye exam. After he was medically cleared, another potential enlistee complained that he had been medically rejected for flat feet, while Udall had been cleared with a blind eye. This caused the examiners to retest Udall under closer scrutiny, and he was rejected. Later, medical standards changed and Udall served in the Army until the end of the war.
Later, Udall attended the University of Arizona, where he was a star basketball player and a member of Sigma Chi Fraternity. He played for the Denver Nuggets for one year following graduation as well as attending the University of Denver school of law, and then returned to the University of Arizona for law school, where he graduated in 1949.
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