A discussion; Who Should Be Drafted? Broadcast on November 12, 1950 as part of the Northwestern Reviewing Stand series for Mutual.
Interesting, that this discussion was taking place when it did. The Korean War was already underway and had been since June of that year. It was clearly escalating and the question of supplying adequate troops was now a critical issue, since it was learned that Communist China was supplying troops to North Korea and they were in the process of making serious gains. We had eliminated the Selective Service in 1947 when there was no real pressing need for a substantial army. But now that move was going to be reversed by early 1951 as it looked like the Korean War wasn’t going to end anytime soon.
So the question now was; what should the new criteria be for drafting American men into the Service? What was the minimum draftable age? What was the cut-off age? Who would be deferred and under what circumstances? Should the draft age be lowered to 18? Should the draft also include veterans of the previous war? Should draft-age men be exempt from service if they are going to school? Should draft age men be exempt if they are married with children?
On hand for this discussion was General Lewis Hershey, James McBurney (moderator), Charles Percy, Kenneth Olsen and Charles Rolls. Hershey was a familiar name and still very much around during the era of the Vietnam War.
Since time was of the essence, the draft needed to be reinstated within the coming weeks and needed to clear many potential hurdles before calling up recruits.
No doubt, this was an eagerly listened to broadcast, particularly if you were 18 going on 19 and were planning on heading to college. The subject would be getting considerable coverage over the next several weeks.
Seemed like yesterday America was finishing a war – now it was bracing for a new one.
Here is that broadcast of Northwestern Reviewing Stand as it was broadcast on November 12, 1949 over the Mutual Radio network.
