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thedrifter
01-31-09, 07:05 AM
Heroes -- drafted or volunteer -- are made, not born
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January 30, 2009
By ROBERT MITCHLER Guest Columnist

When we review our history books and read about our military heroes -- the ones that were awarded the Medal of Honor and other high awards -- we find that the circumstances surrounding their heroism to qualify for their heroic acts are not because of their birth, but how they performed on the scene of the battle.

Heroes are made, not born.

Military basic and advanced training is often the most rigorous and strenuous period in military service. The early indoctrination to the purpose of serving in a military unit separates them from civilian life. Their minds and bodies are transformed into a human machine capable of reacting above and beyond to any challenge in a military situation.

The basic recruit training and then the advance training varies in the different branches of military service, commensurate with what future battle situations are destined to confront them. No one can predict the challenge that may await them during their military career.

Sgt. Alvin York of World War I fame is an example of how heroes are made, not born. York was not an Army career soldier, but a civilian who was trained to respond and react in the military situation that he found himself confronted with and forced to solve. His ability to fire a good rifle shot was a civilian skill he brought with him into military service, but it was that skill that was added to the situation when engaging the enemy that made him react in a professional, military response. The Tennesseean became an American icon -- the epitome of the citizen-soldier who conscientiously followed his obligation to citizenship.

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There has always been controversy among some of our civilian and military leadership about the ability of draftees entering our military to meet the challenge. Let's start by making it known that draftees made up 93 percent of our World War II Army. A sampling of our Medal of Honor recipients should once and for all put a stake in the denigration heaped upon draftees.

A report by the national VFW indicated that during the period from Sept. 5, 1917 to Nov. 11, 1918, 2,810,296 American men were inducted into the U.S. Army. They constituted 72 percent of the entire service. Draftees supplied more than 50 percent of the soldiers of the American Expeditionary Force in France.

Again, in World War II, the national conscription from November 1940 to October 1946 had 10,220,104 men called into military service. That number amounted to 63 percent of our World War II military. In our Army, 92 percent were draftees. The Navy, Marine Corps and Coast Guard had a total of 1,730,194 draftees with 16,000 in the Marines.

During the draft for Korean War military, August 1950 through July 1953, 1,569,141 men were called into military service. Draftees made up 30 percent of the Korean War servicemen. From August 1951 to October 1952, 83,858 Marines were drafted. In 1952, 12,220 Marines entered military service via the Selective Service system. By December 1952, 63 percent of soldiers serving in Korea were draftees. In 1953, 59 percent of the Army enlisted men were draftees.

During the Cold War years (1954-1964) the Selective Service was again drafting men into military service. During that period 1,443,223 men were drafted, representing 41 percent of the Army.

The Vietnam War, 1965-1973, produced 1,728,344 men being drafted into military service. Thirty-nine percent of the soldiers in Vietnam were drafted at a time when 27 percent of the Army as a whole was draftee. The national VFW reported 648,500 draftees (25 percent of the total) were among the 2.6 million Americans who were actually stationed in Vietnam. Draftee hostile deaths totaled 15,458, or 32 percent of all American combat fatalities.

Accolades were given to those military draftees by retired Army Maj. Gen. Walter I. Stewart Jr., in a statement: "The power of America's drafted and draft-induced armies defeated fascism and Japanese imperialism, and maintained the 38th parallel in Korea. It would defeat the North Vietnamese Army and Viet Cong in every fight of significance in Vietnam."

The heroism that is recorded in our military history clearly credits our men who were drafted into military service as "heroes who are made, not born."

Robert Mitchler is a retired state senator and was a military and naval aide to Illinois governors. His column appears twice monthly. To submit an item for Veterans Corner, write Mitchler c/o The Beacon News, 495 N. Commons Drive, Suite 200, Aurora, IL 60504.

Ellie