Michael A. Klenc was born on June 17, 1948, in St. Louis. From 1962 to 1966, he attended high school at Holy Cross Seminary on the University of Notre Dame campus. After a freshman semester at Notre Dame, Klenc transferred to Saint Louis University. He applied for and received low-cost student loans under the National Defense Education Act.

From 1940 to 1973, the United States conscripted men to fill gaps in its armed forces that existed during times of conflict and peace. The draft raised over 2 million men for military service during the Vietnam War. At age eighteen in 1966, Michael Klenc registered with the Selective Service as required by law and received an exemption for ministers and divinity students (Class IV-D). As a college student from 1967 to 1970, Klenc qualified for college student deferment status (Class II-S). Upon graduation in 1970, his deferment status changed to “available for combat service” (Class I-A). However, he failed three physicals due to being underweight and in 1971 was classified as “unqualified for duty except in time of declared war or national emergency” (Class I-Y). In 1970, Klenc applied for conscientious objector noncombatant status (Class I-AO) but was not classified as requested. In July 1972, the Selective Service changed his classification status to IV-F, “unfit for military service.”