AMERICAN YOUTH SEEK TO EVADE FIGHTING IN VIETNAM
The unpopularity of the war in Vietnam is shown by a most significant development in the United States. Never in the entire past one hundred years, according to Selective Service officials, has "draft dodging" been so bad.
"Not only are more men neglecting to register, ignoring official correspondence, refusing to report for their physicals and tearing up their draft cards, but the threat of military service has scared thousands into premature marriages, unplanned schooling and unwanted jobs," according to Jack Anderson, a Washington correspon= dent, in the September 27 New York Post.
Young men caught trying to evade the draft are subject to five years in prison and a fine of $10,000. Thus ingenious means are tried to get deferment by legal means. “Congressmen have been bombarding local boards with requests for deferments. Prominent people have brought pressure on the boards to exempt their sons, Employers have claimed that the most unlikely young workers. are essential to the home front."
"Patriotism" was never at a lower ebb. "Those who must put on a uniform are more pitied than praised."
The ruses used to beat the draft range "from deliberately 'flunkingt tests to tinstant! fatherhood. People with masters! degrees have miraculously failed their educational tests. And more than one illegitimate child has been given a name because his father sought to duck the draft."
‘Some youth actually commit minor crimes in order to get arrested and be found "morally unfit".to serve in the army.
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