The government targeted disabled people from some of the poorest communities in the country, who McNamara referred to as, “the subterranean poor.”
Many of those drafted were illiterate, they had to be taught to tie their shoes, and they didn’t know things like who the president was, even as they were being sent to kill and die on his orders for an imperialist war, for reasons they could not understand.
A book called McNamera’s Folly records some stories of those recruited in the program. One thought a nickel was worth more than a dime, because it was bigger. One of them failed to attend training and was sentenced to four years of labor in prison, and the sergeant asked if anyone “wanted to join them in the stockade.” Another conscript didn’t know what the word “stockade” meant and thought it meant going home, so he said yes - he received the same sentence.
If you can believe it, this was actually sold to the public as a “progressive” program, as part of Johnson’s “War on Poverty.” The claim was that this would be a way to help the conscripts learn useful skills. in reality, a study by the DoD itself found:
Comparisons between Project 100,000 participants and their non-veteran peers showed that, in terms of employment status, educational achievement, and income, non-veterans appeared better off. Veterans were more likely to be unemployed and to have a significantly lower level of education. Income differences ranged from $5,000 [to] $7,000 in favor of non-veterans. Veterans were more likely to have been divorced.
Obviously.
Yes there is. I wholely believe there is. But the claim was “they don’t draft the mentally ill” and was proven wrong.
Ukraine is better fighting for its survival. Russia is an oppressor trying to colonize.
But the claim was wrong, the commentor was downvoted for giving a link, and someone who clipped only a chunk of a paragraph that proved them wrong was upvoted. That’s Fox News shit.
oh dang, then you almost made a point then. nice job!
Because it seemed like you were trying to say that Ukraine was drafting mentally challenged people, and was just as bad as russia for doing so. but it turns out that they just adjusted their acceptance standards and dissolved a commission. Good thing we know now that the point you tried to make was pointless distraction, and that my original comment is a far better interpretation of the actual events.