Word: vietnamize
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There are important differences between then and now. A draft was in effect during the Vietnam years, while today's Army is all volunteer. And, in contrast to the Vietnam era, Americans continue to support the troops in Iraq even if many oppose the war. Still, the Iraq war has changed how many young people weigh a decision to sign up for the military. "People used to think they could just join up to get money for college, and so it was easier to recruit," says Curtis Mills, 31, an Army reservist who served in Iraq as a military-police...
...insular subculture within the American body politic, a piece of Sparta in the midst of Babylon," says Scales, former head of the U.S. Army War College. He is worried that the shortfall in sign-ups will soon be felt by the regular service. "Those of us who were in Vietnam in 1969 remember all the pronouncements about how good things were going," Scales says, recalling that Pentagon figures at that time showed retention numbers to be solid. "But in 1970 the whole thing collapsed, and the Army simply broke." Soldiers were deserting in droves, enlisted men were fragging their officers...
...Army Reserve, warned that the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan have put in "grave danger" his force's ability to fulfill other Pentagon missions or help grapple with domestic emergencies. "I do not wish to sound alarmist," wrote Helmly, who won a Bronze Star for valor in Vietnam. "I do wish to send a clear, distinctive signal of deepening concern." Helmly's memo split the Pentagon into two camps--those who praised Helmly's candor and courage, and those who found the memo's tone, and its appearance in a newspaper, a little too self-promoting...
...Veterans Affairs (VA) has confirmed that there are 38 homeless vets from the Iraq campaign alone, and although this is a tiny fraction of the 168,000-plus soldiers discharged after serving there, experts are surprised to see them show up in shelters so soon. "A lot of Vietnam vets didn't start to experience problems until eight, 10, 12 years later," says Ed Lowry, executive director of the Philadelphia Veterans Multi-Service and Education Center. The VA says it is better prepared than it was 30 years ago to catch people before they fall through the cracks. Brown...
...story of Charles Robert Jenkins, the U.S. Army sergeant who left his post in South Korea and fled to the communist North in 1965, will generate a lot of sympathy for him [Dec. 13]. We shouldn't forget, however, that he deserted because he was scared of going to Vietnam. Legally, Jenkins will be a free man after being discharged. But knowing about the troops who served honorably in Korea, Vietnam, the first Gulf War, Afghanistan and Iraq, I will have difficulty feeling any sympathy for that coward. Kazuho Baba Anaheim, California...