Mutual Broadcasting – The Reviewing Stand – “Who Should Be Drafted?” – November 12, 1950.
Whenever a war of undetermined duration takes place, inevitably the issue of Drafting young Americans into the various armed services get debated.
During this broadcast of The Reviewing Stand, the Korean War was only five months old. But since we were five years away from the end of World War 2, our armed forces had been depleted of significant numbers of combat ready troops. In fact, we had already phased out the Selective Service by 1949 and subsequently, no one was being drafted.
But with Korea becoming a protracted war, with increasing casualties and a lack of fresh troops, the issue of reinstating the Draft floated to the forefront.
Featured in this discussion/debate are General Lewis Hershey, Charles C. Rolls, Kenneth E. Olsen, Charles H. Percy and James H. McBurney . Together they weigh the pros and cons of the draft itself, who should be drafted (Women weren’t subject to the draft in 1950), should the age of eligibility change (from 19 to 18).
At the time of this posting, there has been no established “game plan” as to this new excursion – no time line – no consideration of body count and no consideration of drafting both men and women into the armed forces. The last time a Draft was instated was during the Vietnam War; one which lasted 10 years and produced some 58,000 casualties in the armed forces alone. As there is no telling what this latest conflict will cost and no plan of action, it’s almost a sure bet the Draft will be reinstated and 18 year-olds will be called up. Just a matter of time.
Hopefully, that will NOT be the case – but to give you some idea of how we were dealing with the issue some 75 years ago, here is that episode of The Northwestern Reviewing Stand as it was broadcast on November 12, 1950 over the Mutual Broadcasting System.
