World War Two veterans welcome the respect that comes with their once having been a member of the armed forces. This is a normal human trait, but chances are they were hardly volunteers. The then young conscripts were press ganged into the armed forces against their will. If there was genuine enthusiasm for war then conscription would be neither necessary nor desirable.

Of the 16 million American servicemen drafted into military service during World War Two, less than 1/30 (600,000) actually volunteered. The majority of those who did so jumped before they were pushed. They were smart enough to know that by signing-up they would be better considered and rewarded than those who waited for the ominous envelope to land on the hallway doormat. Besides, a volunteer had some choice as to what service branch he served in; conscripts had little or no choice.

At the onset of America’s entry into World War Two, conscripts discovered that bed-wetting earned them an honourable discharge. This is an unfortunate choice of words, but that is how it was. After this ruse was discovered, the incidence of bed-wetting shot up by 1,200 per cent in one Texas training camp alone. The haemorrhage was stopped only when the War Department issued a circular removing bed-wetting as a ‘psycho-neurotic discharge.’

The U.S. economy suffered more hours lost through armed forces desertion than it did through civilian strikes.

Leading up to the US draft (conscription), the number of unemployed in the United States reached 11 million. With no social security available the jobless were desperate for any work. The prospect of three hearty meals a day, a clean bunk with shower facilities, new clothes and shoes with no rent to pay, career opportunities, sport, travel, free laundry and in the pocket $21 a month (a lot of money then) held irresistible appeal. It gets better as there would be no fighting to do. US President F D Roosevelt had pledged to the electorate, “We shall not send your sons abroad.”

Similar social deprivation existed in Britain. Millions of bread-winners were unemployed and unable to feed their families. There was no such thing as social security or benefits as we know them today. There was the means test, which meant that you would have to sell your furniture before the state would offer a meagre token of assistance. Such was the soul-destroying humiliation of wending one’s way through the vetting procedure that few took that course for the few shillings it might provide if successful.

Men in such distressing circumstances were entirely dependent upon family support. Many would turn their hand to whatever task they could, others openly begged on the streets. Alternatively, they would be obliged to ask for state assistance.

When veterans parade then respect not their contribution to the war effort. Respect instead that many wore uniform not to fight German infamies, but as a means of surviving their own government’s failings. ~ Michael Walsh