Clinton and Military Service

I think Diggins is missing the point in his conclusion that the draft is a non-issue in the current presidential choice.

When I took infantry basic training at Fort Benning in 1943 the motto of the adjacent OCS was then, as it is now, “Follow me”--the message being that the infantry officer leads, he does not sit back in a hole somewhere and send others up front to take the risks. Another basic military tenet: Never order a subordinate to do something you are not willing to do yourself. A commander in chief who finagled and wheeled and dealed to avoid his obligatory military wartime service is a non-issue, you say?

I further dispute Diggins’ assertion that a combat veteran would be more likely to commit men to combat than would a draft dodger. In my own experience, the exact opposite is the case.

GEORGE H. McCARTY

Highland