On Fri, 14 Dec 2001, F. Marc de Piolenc wrote:
It is clear that whatever ID procedures were in effect, they were not effective. Many enlistees lied about their ages and got away with it.
At the time, insufficient age was an "open secret" for these so afflicted. Warm bodies are what drive a war machine (even if they are only driving the remote Predators), and when bodies are scarce, and war is plentiful, niceties such as age become moot as long as everyone agrees. The concept of "got away with it" is meaningless in this context, as nobody was really trying to "catch it".
Marc de Piolenc
Duncan Frissell wrote:
At 05:10 PM 12/13/01 -0600, Jim Choate wrote:
Which is beside your point. Your statement was that the government didn't do ANY identification for ANY of the soldiers in WWII. Patently wrong. Quit trying to change the rules in the middle of the game.
-- Yours, J.A. Terranson sysadmin@mfn.org If Governments really want us to behave like civilized human beings, they should give serious consideration towards setting a better example: Ruling by force, rather than consensus; the unrestrained application of unjust laws (which the victim-populations were never allowed input on in the first place); the State policy of justice only for the rich and elected; the intentional abuse and occassionally destruction of entire populations merely to distract an already apathetic and numb electorate... This type of demogoguery must surely wipe out the fascist United States as surely as it wiped out the fascist Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. The views expressed here are mine, and NOT those of my employers, associates, or others. Besides, if it *were* the opinion of all of those people, I doubt there would be a problem to bitch about in the first place... --------------------------------------------------------------------