The Idaho Republican. [volume] (Blackfoot, Idaho) 1904-1932, 1920-04-05
THE CASTE SYSTEM IN
THE L.. =. ARMY

THE u. $. ARMY
Ex-members of the A. E. F. are
peculiar. You gather from them
that in spite of many good times in
France they do not care for the
French people nor French life; they
are fed up on the army" and want
no more service in theirs. If you
will notice particularly, you will find
that these sentiments come univer-
sally from enlisted men.
Yet these men are the sinew Of the
nation and everybody knows they
would be the first to join-up should
we get into another war right away.
They are good citizens, they respect
the flag and they will support our
national institutions. Why SO sour,
then, on army life in the A. E. F.?
They don't explain, but the anony-
nous Captain NJ, writing in
the Home Sector, touches upon the
vital sore spot. 1t was the United
States army system. Of enlisted men
in our army the captain says:
i" they are hampered
by a petty system of discipline,
which, it must be admitted, has the
tendency to rob man of his man
hood and to make him Servile to
men no better than himself. That
this system is not fit for free Ameri-
cans is shown by the successful ad-
ministration of another kind of dis
cipline in the army of the French
republic.
This system of class distinction
became particularly obnoxious in the
American Expeditionary Force. AL
most the first order issued overseas
was that American enlisted men
could not associate with the nurses
who had been sent over to take care
of the army
This captain wonders why men
sprung from a nation in which no
classes are in evidence should so sla-
vishly initiate a foreign army sys-
TEN, the British. The British lower
class men usually addresses his en-
ployer or landlord as 1.-The marster.
IF the marster pleases."
In the American army the enlisted
man must address all officers in the
third person, likewise, as:
Sir, Sergeant Brown requests
permission to be absent from station,
if the lieutenant pleases."
Undoubtedly it was this humiliat-
ing system that soured the American
citizen on army service during the
late war. Not a single instant was
the enlisted man allowed to forget
that he was of the lower strata, the
common soldier" considered by the
Army as unworthy of any personal
comforts or advantages, and who
could not be entrusted with the po-
sition of a free man. His spirit had
to be kept down and degraded by a
martinez form of subsection lest he
presume too far and menace the pre-
cious Army system.
To quote again from Captain
NJ:
The first duty of the billeting Of
ficer on reaching town was to allot
the best cafes to the officers and to
secure the best place in town for the
billet of his cmmanding officer. II
he did not do this he did not long
remain billeting officer. Every
where, from the front lines to leave
areas, from transportation to !the
chow line, the enlisted man found
himself an unconsidered and despis-
ed member of society,"
And the captain certainly knows.
He was the sort of officer that men
like to soldier UNDER because he
appreciated their position, even while
himself enjoying the privileges OF his
class.
He thinks it would change things
if West Point cadets were recruited
from the army enlisted personnel, in
stead of thru political pull.
We think that would not change
conditions due to a despicable sys-
TEN. No matter where officers are
from, even the lowest class of hui
mainly, they quickly fall in line with
a condition that elevates them and
depresses others. They soon get to
believing they are made of better
stuff. They become well-nigh un-
bearable.
No wonder France, the French and
all things military have an unsavory
smell to the ex-buck of the A. E. F..
You couldn't expect man to enjoy
swimming in cessEool no matter
how much he loved the sport.
F C.. K