Zero Draft

[Music] it isn't hard to find fresh air in the country but the city's a different story here we really have to fight pollution that's why Gerard bank is putting bike racks around town to make it easier for you to fight pollution at Gerard Bank we take clean air [Music] [Music] seriously zero Draft A New Concept in safeguarding America's security with a modern volunteer army [Music] [Music] 1863 the first draft in American history is held during the Civil War both North and South must resort to conscription to fill the ranks of their armies but in the north exemptions can be bought and substitutes paid to serve charges of a rich man's war and a poor man's fight trigger four days of rioting in New York City and the practice is [Music] abolished the draft is used for the first time on a large scale in World War I in April 1917 President Woodrow Wilson asks for and Congress authorizes a declaration of war against Germany and the Central Powers a month later a Selective Service Act is passed and the president draws the first number 258 in a draft of men for military service it continues without interruption for 16 and 1/2 hours more than a million and a half Americans are called examined and sent on their way to army camps for basic training the citizen soldiers Shape Up and make do learning that Army khaki generally comes in two sizes too big and too small Johnny Doughboy is answering the call to make the world safe for democracy three times in half a century the ritual will be repeated as Young Americans are drafted into the service of their [Music] country over there the victory is won crowds cheer bands play and pretty girls throw flowers as Johnny Comes Marching Home from the war to end all wars the draft has expired America reverts to an all volunteer army of 300,000 [Music] men 1931 Japan invades Manchuria 1933 the plastia casts it Shadow over Germany as Adolf Hitler comes to [Music] power 1935 Benito musolini sends his Italian Legions against Ethiopia 1939 Nazi Germany unleashes its Blitz cre against Poland 1940 France Falls England stands alone and in the United States President Franklin D Roosevelt signs into law the first peacetime draft in history the numbers in the new draft are picked from the same Fishbowl used in World War I the first number drawn by the Secretary of War is serial number 158 I'm iny I a in theid [Music] celect te's can sing of helping to keep their country safe and [Music] free rise and shine boy up what time you 6:15 get up you BL up come on Bo let's get up draes are called to serve for a year and are paid as the song says $21 a day once a [Music] month the peacetime draft is unpopular and in 1941 its extension passes the House of Representatives by a single vote Camp weekends are for wives girlfriends families and so it is on a Sunday afternoon that will live in [Music] infamy December 7th 19 1941 a nation divided in peace is united in war as 3,000 Americans die in the Holocaust at Pearl Harbor now the draft becomes the means of mobilizing the mightiest fighting force in United States history 13 million Americans are called to the colors from factories and Fields cities and [Music] towns for 3 and one A2 years gii Joe carries Freedom's Crusade around the world North Africa Italy France Germany and the jungles of the South Pacific from anzio to bugenvil Bastone to Okinawa American fighting men spearhead the victory [Music] march Japan surrenders and Emperor Hirohito is hanged in effigy VJ Day August 14th 1945 the war is one the boys come home and within a year some 10 million servicemen are mustered out of the Army Navy and the Marines America has had enough of War now the nation yearns only for peace the draft ends but a peacetime cold war is developing between the free and communist worlds President Truman urges a new draft we can fulfill Our obligation of service in the cause of Peace only by maintaining our strength the will for peace without the strength for peace is of no avail General Eisenhower echoes the president's words Universal military training as proposed by the president endorsed by the veterans of the United States and by a majority of the people is the least burdensome and the most Equitable solution yet suggested and so in 1948 Americans between the ages of 18 and 25 sign up for compulsory military service when American troops are sent into combat in Korea and later Vietnam the draft provides the bulk of the fighting [Music] men in the United States resistance to the draft grows as upwards of 300,000 men a year are called induction centers are blocked draft cards burned and selective service records destroyed resulting in a arrests trials and imprisonment finally in January 1973 the draft is ended and replaced by an all volunteer military force at Fort Benning Georgia Colonel Robert Oran speaks of the Army's New Look for the past two years or so the United States Army has been engaged in what I believe to be one of the major struggles of its almost two centuries of existence and I'm referring not so much to the war in Vietnam as to the Army's battle to create a better Army and what we're trying to do under our current leadership style is to create a climate of job satisfaction of living and working conditions in which we take account of each man's individuality in this man's Army dormatory like rooms for two have replaced the Stark old Barracks that used to house 20 to 30 men and GIS are encouraged to personalize their quarters from hamburgers and french fries to full course dinners the food has never been better GIS have a wide selection appetizers to desserts and there are no limits on seconds the new lifestyle includes attractive dining rooms and best of all an end to KP civilian Personnel now police the [Music] kitchen military pay is the highest in history recruits get $37.20 a month plus free room and board medical benefits and discount prices at post [Music] exchanges individual Learning Centers offer slide in film presentations on civilian and Military subjects the United States Army infantry School presents the call for an adjustment of artillery [Music] fire the rapid everchanging pace of the modern Battlefield often thrusts soldiers into to positions requiring immediate fire support while much has changed some Army routines remain the same still the service is enlisting and retaining more recruits an all volunteer army will require an estimated 400,000 men a year as replacements for personnel that are being discharged or are retiring despite significant progress in attracting quality Manpower in quantity numbers the goal is not yet assured however Colonel orand is optimistic as he reviews the achievements of the modern volunteer army we are getting to know each other we are getting to learn to understand each other we are learning to make racial progress in a way that the Army has never made progress before and all in all I think this counts for the fact that the United States Army is winning its battle to create a better Army at Gerard Bank we take clean air seriously