Word: sir
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Dates: during 1960-1969
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...Sir: Your article on the crisis over ROTC [March 7] put the matter squarely in focus. The military has become the scapegoat for many of our social ills. And the converse is true: our present military system has been virtually absolved in areas where it has perpetrated the most vicious harm-notably, conscription...
...Sir: I question your statement that ROTC liberalizes the military establishment. The armed forces, while inherently conservative, are today more reactionary than is healthy. ROTC has not worked because 1) those students inclined toward the military are the ones who join the program, 2) the constraints of the military system extinguish whatever liberalism there might be and 3) those who maintain their liberalism leave at the end of their short commitments. If Curtis LeMay, an archconservative, is a product of the liberalizing forces of ROTC, then you have pointed out its failure. Our Government must review the entire military system...
...Sir: It is one thing for members of the academic fraternity to knock ROTC because of antimilitary sentiments. But those who seek to eliminate it from the college curriculum because the classes lack academic qualities and are "boring trade school courses" might well examine a few other programs...
...Sir: As an ROTC graduate of '66, I will vouch for the almost complete absence of academic material presented in the program. Furthermore, students who were enthusiastic about marching (which was always interpreted as "leadership potential") received A's. And how important is drill? During my two years of active duty in the Army, I didn't even see a parade. Today's ROTC program is as outmoded as the single-shot rifle, and discredits both the Army and the universities...
...Sir: One would expect a person on trial for murder in Russia to be told to shut up or else a muzzle would be placed on him and he would be chained to his chair. As an American citizen working overseas, I was appalled at the description of how Sirhan Sirhan was treated when he demanded to plead guilty and defend himself at his trial [March 7]. In "the land of liberty and justice for all," can a citizen sit still when a person is forced to accept lawyers he does not want and to be a mere pawn while...