Armed Forces: The Draft Debate

For months, as the number of draftees in Viet Nam has swelled to more than 65,000, complaints have risen in the U.S. about unfairness in the system by which young men are selected for, or exempted from, military service. There is considerable grumbling about the fact that local draft boards, under the current system, tend to induct poor boys, Negroes and school dropouts, while sparing richer or brainier youngsters. Many Americans feel uneasy—and the draftee may feel downright angry—that the 971,000 active reservists and National Guardsmen are exempted from extended military...