Evening star., 1941-06-12

Henry MeLemors veloped the
proper set of muscles for driving
tank by singing the Star Spangled
Banner"
Since the first draftee reported,
one Of the biggest defense bottle
necks has been the effort Of the
Army to make efficient fighters out
of men whose athletic medals are
covered with rust or are in the
pawn shop.
Congress set the draft ages as 81
to 35, inclusive, either out of igno-
rance (perish the thoughtD or be.
cause 1t yielded to pressure TO pro-
tect the country's youth. But 1t Is
now fairly obvious that youth isn't
safe behind a bay window and can't
relax when its defender creaks In
every Joint?
The Army has figures showing
that men drawn from the age group
ranging from 18 to Is are much
more fit for military service than
those drawn from the 26 to 35
bracket. These figures are on paper
but the Army could back them up
by living figures in the active ranks.
If you happen to live in New
York you don't have TO go outside
of view of the skyline to study the
Armys Illustration in trying to make
top class soldiers out of men who
had to drop out of the last class
reunion parade. because their feet
hurt. You can go to Governors
Island, where military police for the
1st Army are being trained.
ferried there yesterday and
talked to sergeant who has the
task of converting as unusual an
assortment of draftees as you'll find
anywhere into military police. In
the space of few weeks he must
make cops out of brokers, lawyers,
playwrights, brush salesmen, pet
store proprietors and the like.
A great many of them are be.
tween 80 and 35 and they give the
sergeant a headache worthy of one
of Gutzon Borglum's mountainsids
heads. In voice as plaintive as the
cry Of the sea gulls which wheel
above this New York Harbor fort,
he explained some of the drawbacks
in training them.
They're pretty soft" the sergeant
said, land it keeps you awake at
night wondering what might happen
to them if they tried to arrest a
really tough soldier, but that's not
the worst of it. It's the way they
are mentally, see? They've lived
their own lives too long to becoms
policemen suddenly. They don't like
policemen in general to begin with.
The only cops they admired when
they were civilians were the good
fellows who let EN- off when they
we're caught for speeding or going
through red light. So when they
become policemen and go out with
the MP band on their arms, they
try to be just like the only cops they
ever liked. I swear they won't arrest
anybody. If a soldiers tight and
raising too much hell they remember
the times they were the same way,
and just pass him by with chuckle.
They're too damned tolerant"
The sergeant went on to explain
that. after all, you couldn't expect
much else.
Nobody likes an MP, you know
the sergeant sighed, bit wistfully.
I thought, While our main Job Is
to keep soldiers out of trouble, not
get 'em into it, they always yell
here comes a lousy MP whenever
they see one of us. Now men 30 and
IS don't like that. They have spent
10 years or more in business making
friends and trying to be popular.
Young fellows don't mind not
being liked. They like the authority
an MP has and that makes up for 1t.
You don't want 'em too young, Of
course. Then they'll want to arrest
guy If they see him take a glass
of beer or walk around with his
blouse unbuttoned. Give me some
boys around "a and I'll turn out
some military policemen"
feel that Congress should pass
the measure aimed at giving Us a
younger Army.
After all, how efficient is soldier
whose natural inclination Is to wear
fatigue dress most of the timer
Distributed by McNsuEht Syndicate, fnc)