The Waterbury Democrat., 1943-07-13

| don't know that now. They don
know when they will know because
no fathers are going to be in
Quoted until all other able-bodiee
men of military age have been calico
up and nobody knows when all other
able-bodied men will have beer
called up and their supply ex-
hausted.
Nobody knows when all the avail.
able supply of "non-fathers'' will be
used up because:
l. Physical standards have beer
lowered a little, particularly as tc
eyesight, which means that lot Of
men previously rejected may be
reclassified and called up ahead Of
the first fathers.
LOWER PHYSICAL
STANDARDS
Just how many "non-fathers" this
will yield, no one can tell, but for
every such man called up, the day
of induction for a father is delayed
just that much longer.
2. Physical standards may be fur
ther lowered, possibly delaying the
induction of fathers by month OF
more. Lowered physical standards
are against the Army tradition
which wants flexible force in
which every man is able bodied, but
civilians in the Manpower Commits
sion are trying to persuade the mil
itary that men not physically per-
feet might be used for barrage bal
loon duty or defense assignments in
the U. S. or on desk jobs in the
services. After all, there is special
ization in the services today, not
every man being a cook, radio OPP
orator or an aviation mechanic, in
terchangeably.
3. There is further pressure on
the services to take men of from 81
to As for limited service where short
wind, fallen arches or incipient pot
bellies are no great handicap. Ac-
ceptance of more of these older men
might delay the drafting of fathers
by another month, more or less.
4. Every effort is being made to
review occupational deferments, SO
as to release to the armed services
all able-bodied men previously con-
sidered essential in war industry.
5. The military situation may
change-meaning that the Army
may want men faster than original
ly scheduled, or that training facili-
ties may not be available to induct
new cadres as rapidly as had been
planned. And nobody seems able to
tell what the military situation will
be month or six months hence.
WHIRLPOOLS OF RUMORS
The best advice to fathers, there
fore, is to quit worrying and forget
it till the time comes when the draft
board sends them that notification.
But they can't. 1t isn't natural to
ignore so important question that
means temporarily breaking up the
happy family and putting the love
nest in hook.
Out of this uncertainty and gen.
uine personal interest in trying to
plan ahead as far as possible has
sprung all the desire to know when
the fateful day is going to come. In
the wake of this desire to know the
worst there has been churned up a
whole whirlpool of rumors. It's 60
ing to be August l, October /, jan
uary l, or any and all dates in be-
tween and before. Every such spec
ulation is a pure guess because no.
body in Washington knows. Honest.
Three types of fathers can OF
course be indicted now under ex-
listing regulations. Those whose
children were conceived after Pearl
Harbor and born after September
IA, 1912, those who have left farm
labor after Pearl Harbor, those en-
ployed in the luxury or Semi-luxury
on-essential occupations classified
as non-deferrable.
The Manpower Commission has
ducked every suggestion to set a
date-any date-just to get the mat
ter settled. Last March, it would
have guessed June, but that date
has come and gone without a
fathers draft. Now, it has stopped
guessing. Just one thing Is certain
in the whole business. They're going
to call up these Understanding
unless Congress intervenes or Hit
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