Hoping to put off being conscripted, Chung entered a teacher training college at Changhua, but could not avoid being pressed into the military after graduation as part of an effort to mobilize the students. It was during this period that he contracted malaria, severely damaging his hearing.
鍾肇政也考上彰化青年師範學校，試圖延後兵役年限，但畢業後仍難逃「學徒動員令」；當兵期間噩運果然降臨，他在軍隊裡感染瘧疾，聽力受到嚴重損害。