Note on Protests Leatherneck 'Recreation
Senseless protests accomplish very little except to demonstrate the crusaders' immaturity or inability to channel an idea into a coherent manifestation. All demonstrations are not senseless. Some of them are vital for solving situations which are intolerable and can only be righted when public apathy is given a sharp jolt. This has been unquestionably proven in the case of demonstrations related to the present racial crisis in the U.S., and few will deny that organized civil rights demonstrations with a clear purpose have been all to the good.
SUCH IS NOT the case in relation to the planned Student Peace Union protest scheduled tomorrow at the Lawrence draft board. The proposed protest smacks of a juvenile tantrum. It is simply ridiculous. Additional comment would lend more dignity to the protest than I wish to confer.
It is heartening that young Americans are aroused, whether pro or con, about the U.S. involvement in Viet Nam. All too often, Americans have followed distant conflicts only in the light of history. But demonstrations against the draft do nothing to aid the U.S. path to the conference table, they only serve to create frustration among the men who are fighting for us in Viet Nam.
-Karen Lambert
University Forum Debauch or Defend?
Viet Nam is many things to many people.
To some it is a domino which must be held in its present position, lest it upset other dominoes around it. But alas, nations are not dominoes any more than people are blocks of wood.
To others it is a place where the U.S. must fulfill its treaty obligations—without concern, one supposes, for the legitimacy or the efficacy of those obligations.
or the emercy of those congruents TO A CERTAIN group, it is a place of crisis, but one so shot through with "implications and overtones" that these people just don't quite know what to do, aside from feeling a vague uneasiness. One can only congratulate them on their keen intellects.
NO ONE, IT SEEMS, can quite get together on Viet Nam. Perhaps this is due to the lack of a common starting point. Presumptuous as it may sound, I propose to establish such a point.
To a very diverse few, it is a moral outrage and/or a political blunder second almost, to none.
The world today, whether for better or worse, is basically political. There are, to be sure, a good many "human problems" that do not appear to be directly political, but in the final analysis, I think that politics will, in some way, be involved. Assuredly, the political picture today is chaotic as it could be only in a world teetering on the brink of a future that no one quite comprehends.
THERE IS, THOUGH, one fairly constant reality in this scene. It is not quite comforting enough to cling to, but it is a fact that we cannot for a moment afford to overlook. That factor is the bloc of nations referred to as the emerging nations. These countries, with a good majority of the world's population, have come into being largely since the end of World War II. Prior to that, they had known from one to four centuries of colonial domination by Western powers. At best, they had been paternalized—at worst, they were enslaved and butchered. Regardless of how they gained their independence, these nations are, every one, proud, and determined to restore to their people the dignity as men that the white West kept from them.
It is within this context that I suggest we view U.S. policy in Viet Nam. The admittedly numerous "other factors" aside, the fact remains that we are supporting a government in the south of Viet Nam that is not one whit better (nor necessarily, worse) than its rival in the north. To make matters worse, this support is given in a most heavy-handed way. Yes, we may tell ourselves that the entire world is vastly impressed with our ideas. Unless we are prepared to bomb most of the earth into submission, we shall have to find a better way to "sell ourselves," for if we are, indeed, "selling ourselves" presently. It is hardly an honorable transaction.
Viet Nam: Defense or Debauch of Democracy?
- John Garlinghouse
On The Side...
The Student Peace Union will stage a demonstration tomorrow to urge reform of draft laws. We think they should be reformed too. Why aren't women being drafted? We think the army discriminates against women.
★ ★ ★
Let us pray, fellow Americans, for the speedy recovery of Our Most High Potentate, LBJ. Please, HHH, don't scare us by supporting any new organizations.
★★
Our vote for Man of the Season will go to Dick Pratt. Anyone who can still smile after what he's been through deserves it.
— Harry Krause
Editor's Note: This is the third article in a series on life as a recruit in the U.S. Marine Corps at Parris Island, S.C.
By Private Charlie Corcoran
Tuesday, May 11th, marked the birth of Platoon 325. When we were formed for the mile or so hike from Recruit Receiving to our barracks by our newly acquired permanent DI's we all looked pretty much the same, shorn and uniformed. The first steps of the hike, however, proved how individualistic we actually were.
"ARM BRIDGE, another station in the Combat Conditioning Course. At first attempt this one had me stymied. Twenty-six pounds lighter a few weeks later I made a better showing. It's not quite as easy as the ones we used to have in the parks at home."
The DI's became fed up at the fact that we couldn't march, and as if we were a herd of cattle we "moo-ed" the last part of the way at a quick shuffle, loaded seabags dragging behind.
THE DAY WAS a scorcher. Reaching the barracks at last and climbing to the third "deck," we were all exhausted and covered with sweat and dust.
"Get on your bellies. Get on your feet. Get on your bellies. Push up. Down. Up. Down. Get on your feet. Get on your back. Get on your bellies. Get on your feet. Get..."
At the time it was difficult to fathom all that we were ordered to do, but hindsight is a great enlightener. Today, I am the product of what at times seemed to be extreme and foolish. Now, it seems it was logical and within reason. I'm 26 pounds lighter, in top physical condition and possess the will and perseverance to attack tasks that before were avoided. It hasn't been entirely my own doing, but no matter the means the results are all that can be desired.
THE FIRST FEW weeks were full of orientation, discipline, physical training, gear issues, physical training, classification tests, physical training, inoculations, physical training, classroom instruction (history of the Corps, customs and courtesies, first aid, U.S. rifle, 7.62 mm. M-14, etc.) and physical training.
Up at 4:55, we were outside the barracks at 5. We ran for 15 or 20 minutes until we were thoroughly awakened. Then, and the scuttlebutt is wrong, to a good, wholesome breakfast. (The food, generally, was good, better than KU's dorms.)
Then, though the schedule was changed frequently so we did not become accustomed to routine,we went to physical training,PT.
First in the concentrated program of body building came the calisthenics. Push-ups, side straddle hops, bends and thrusts, running in place leg lifts, rockers, sit-ups, etc.
IN A WEEK or so we encountered the Combat Conditioning Course, a series of station exercises featuring a Defense Department-concocted set of exercises designed to build just about every muscle one can imagine. There were isometric bars, an arm bridge (pictured above), a rope climb, more push-ups, various barbell exercises, vertical leg lifts, step ups (with 20 pound weights), an arm walk (or parallel bars) and double sit-ups. And, of course, plenty of running.
Then, with plenty of calisthenics beforehand
to limber us up, came the "O" or Obstacle Course. It went something like this:
Jump a hurdle. Run up to a horizontal bar about nine feet overhead, jump and pull yourself over it. Jump another hurdle and grab another overhead horizontal bar. Swing under that bar and hook your legs on a pipe leading from it on the diagonal toward the ground and slide down the pipe to a log. Climb up on to the log, reach out to another one placed about two feet away at waist height. Swing head first over that log. Jump another hurdle. Run to a six and a half foot high vertical wall and climb over it. Climb over three more hurdles, these about chest high. Jump up to and swing over a set of parallel horizontal bars in the head first position. Run to the thirty foot ropes and "climb, you hawg!"
IN OUR LAST few weeks we ran the Confidence Course A beaut from the word "Go!"
Words would be wasted on a detailed explanation of the mechanics of it, but here are a few of the names of its obstacles: The Tough One, the Weaver, the Arm Walk, the Ladder and the Slide for Life.
The last one entailed climbing a forty foot ladder resembling a telephone pole platform and sliding down a cable centered rope that was stretched about one hundred feet to a ten foot high pole. We started off head first on top of the cable, a third of the way down we rolled over and slid down another third head first under the rope. The final third required swinging down and up with our feet and finishing the slide feet first under the rope.
OTHER PHYSICAL conditioning programs included hand-to-hand combat, a combination of judo-ju jitsu-karate, bayonet training, and pugil sticks, rifle sized poles with padded bags used in a boxing-like attack on an opponent.
On top of all this, each day included close order drill, several hours of it. Topping off the drill periods in the last week or so of Boot, the senior platoons competed for the Battalion Commander's trophy—a full size pair of gilded boots.
Tomorrow — Concluding with miscellaneous remembrances.
It Used to Be...
Oct. 15, 1915
Women will have a special reserved section at the football game Saturday and they need someone to lead the yells. This was provided because dates at games are discouraged and women seem to be showing an unusual amount of football spirit this fall. Alice Goetz said.
It was 7 a.m. of Oct. 15, 1940,
and a new age began. The United
States is listing its defenders for
a peace-time draft.
Oct.15.1940
a peace Unofficial figures said 500 KU students had registered for the draft at 2:30 p.m. today.
2
Daily Kansan
Friday, October 15, 1965
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