The Hardin tribune-herald. [volume] (Hardin, Mont.) 1925-1973, 1941-10-30

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whether he thought there ought to be
a lowering Of the physical, mental
and educational standards for ad-
mission to the army.
The question came up at the close
OF a long dissertation by MI. Roose-
welt On a report from the army
which seemed to reveal a, shocking
state Of the national health. It was
based or figures which showed that
nearly so per cent Of the ~selectees
rejected for service we're ineligible
because Of deficiencies in these three
categories. It did look as though
Americans, as a people, were pretty
sick.
The Presidents answer to the
question Of lowering the standards
Of admission was an emphatic mega
tive. Very little attention was paid
to this response at the time and the
stories which went out over the air
and the wires that day chiefly
concerned with the program for
healing the physical ills of selectees
az government expense.
But that part of the picture, as I
learned when I talked with a promi-
nent psychiatrist, is only half of it.
or less.
Lowering the standards of mental
requirements would, in case of war,
mean a terrific psychopathic casual
ty list. the taxpayer would have a
terrific bill to pay and the efficiency
of the American fighting forces
would be UNNECESSARILY impaired.
Record of Last War
Let's look at the record of the
last war, when the mental hazards
were only a fraction of what they
are today with a thousand machines
harnessed for destruction.
Briefly, the story is this:
The government of the taxpayer
has paid out nearly a billion dollars
for the benefit and care of mental
cases among veterans of the last
war.
This sun represents 20 per cent
of all benefits paid TO veterans and
their dependents.
There are 92,231 such mental
cases and a third of all veterans
confined to hospitals are mental
cases. 1t is true that some 81, 900 of
these men cannot prove that their
plight is traceable to their military
service. but they are on Uncle Sans
expense list just the same, and they
would not be if they had been kept
out of the army in the first place.
Of course, all of these 5000 mental
cases could not have been spotted
by the draft boards in 1917 and 1918.
Not all cases of mental weakness or
potential weakness can be spotted
now. But the army now has a
wealth of experience on the subject
and the Veterans Administration is
cooperating with many local boards
in this effort. Twenty years study
has made these government doctors
expert in discovering hidden weak
nesses in the human mind. Some Of
the nations greatest psychiatrists
have offered their services to the
army.
Today, of course, there are many
reasons why mental qualifications
count more than in the last war. In
the first place. modern warfare re-
quires greater self-discipline on the
part of the individual.
Special Training Needed
In the old army the squad. COM
posed Of seven or eight men. was a
unit. The squad has now been
abolished. Modern ordnance-small
and heavy arms-is much more
complicated. Each man must be
specially trained for a special task
and frequently the responsibility
formerly relegated to a group, falls
on the individual.
Greater skill to operate modern
arms and equipment is necessary.
Also, the devastating effect Of mech
anization creates a greater mental
strain. An example of this is the
t%errorizing effect Of the noise of dive
bomberS. When the French troops
first heard the stukas they threw
down their arms and fell fiat on the
earth.
As DR.. Martin Cooley, consultant
Of the Veterans Bureau in Washing
ton, puts it:
when one considers how the war
fare Of today has stepped up in in
tensity and tempo with the stuka
divers, the panzer divisions, the ele-
ments Of deadly surprise and audac-
ity and the dropping of bombs Of
high explosives weighing as much as
a ton, it becomes evident that COM
bat troops will have an immense
BRIE FS