Through the thick smog of the Vietnam War, a group of men emerge: lovingly labeled McNamara’s morons, their lack of intellect faced with the horrors of death and destruction exposes the corruption in the United States Military. Men who served in Vietnam feared them, not enemy soldiers, but their own comrades and platoon mates. Infamous for going AWOL (Absent Without Leave), outbursts, and generally being described as incompetent, the men were also nicknamed The Moron Corp. The men are part of Project 100,000 by the former Secretary of Defense Robert McNamara. Project 100,000 (October 1966) was aimed to increase draft numbers for the war effort and was part of the War on Poverty campaign. The plan was to decrease the aptitude scores and dismiss
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A ‘scheme’ is the best word to describe how Project 100,000 was implemented. The project promised many opportunities it failed to fulfill. Task & Purpose, a history webpage, states that “most Project 100,000 men failed to get remedial reading instruction. In the rush to get troops to Vietnam, only about 7.5 percent of them were given such classes. “ (Waller). Recruiters typically target poor southern sheltered communities and inner-city blacks. Grabbing people of lower economic backgrounds, typically with lower education, recruiters promised them a world of honor when they returned from service. Recruiters also lied by omission. While not technically a lie, the omission allowed recruiters to leave out important information to make enlisting more appealing. Numerous recruiters assured men of no involvement in Vietnam, yet their words held no weight. McNamara never once mentioned the Project as “combat” but instead more like schooling. The extent of trickery and lack of integrity did not evade test …show more content…
Strauss. Chance and Circumstance: The Draft, the War, and the Vietnam Generation. Vintage Books, 1978. Bracewell, Jim. The "Sanchez". LRP Rangers of the Vietnam War. lrrprangers.com, Accessed March 15, 2024. Crowe, Raymond R., and Edward M. Colbach. A Psychiatric Experience with Project 100,000." Military Medicine, Vol. XXXII, pp. 113-117. 136, no. -. 3, March 1971, pp. 113-114. 271-273. See the corresponding section. Evans Jr., Daniel E., and Charles W. Sasser. Doc: A Platoon Medic. Lincoln, NE: iUniverse, 2002. Glasser, Ronald J., M.D., M.Sc. 365 Days. New York: George Braziller, 1971, p. 91. Gregory, Hamilton. "McNamara's Folly: The Use of Low-IQ Troops in the Vietnam War." YouTube, April 29, 2016. Accessed March 4, 2024. Galloway, Joseph L. “100,000 Reasons to Shed No Tears for McNamara,” published July 7, 2009, shortly after the death of Robert McNamara, McClatchy newspapers, mcclatchydc.com, accessed January 24, 2014. Khan Academy. "U.S. Involvement in the Vietnam War: the Gulf of Tonkin and Escalation, 1964." Accessed March 8, 2024. LibraryPoint.Org. -. The "Vietnam War Fast Facts." Accessed March 14, 2024. McNamara, Robert S. The Essence of Security. Harper & Row, 1968.. McNamara, Robert S. In Retrospect: The Tragedy and Lessons of Vietnam. New York: Vintage Books, 1996. Nylen, Robert. The. Guts: Combat, Hell-raising, Cancer, Business Start-ups, and Undying Love: One American Guy's Reckless, Lucky Life. Random House, 2009
A ‘scheme’ is the best word to describe how Project 100,000 was implemented. The project promised many opportunities it failed to fulfill. Task & Purpose, a history webpage, states that “most Project 100,000 men failed to get remedial reading instruction. In the rush to get troops to Vietnam, only about 7.5 percent of them were given such classes. “ (Waller). Recruiters typically target poor southern sheltered communities and inner-city blacks. Grabbing people of lower economic backgrounds, typically with lower education, recruiters promised them a world of honor when they returned from service. Recruiters also lied by omission. While not technically a lie, the omission allowed recruiters to leave out important information to make enlisting more appealing. Numerous recruiters assured men of no involvement in Vietnam, yet their words held no weight. McNamara never once mentioned the Project as “combat” but instead more like schooling. The extent of trickery and lack of integrity did not evade test …show more content…
Strauss. Chance and Circumstance: The Draft, the War, and the Vietnam Generation. Vintage Books, 1978. Bracewell, Jim. The "Sanchez". LRP Rangers of the Vietnam War. lrrprangers.com, Accessed March 15, 2024. Crowe, Raymond R., and Edward M. Colbach. A Psychiatric Experience with Project 100,000." Military Medicine, Vol. XXXII, pp. 113-117. 136, no. -. 3, March 1971, pp. 113-114. 271-273. See the corresponding section. Evans Jr., Daniel E., and Charles W. Sasser. Doc: A Platoon Medic. Lincoln, NE: iUniverse, 2002. Glasser, Ronald J., M.D., M.Sc. 365 Days. New York: George Braziller, 1971, p. 91. Gregory, Hamilton. "McNamara's Folly: The Use of Low-IQ Troops in the Vietnam War." YouTube, April 29, 2016. Accessed March 4, 2024. Galloway, Joseph L. “100,000 Reasons to Shed No Tears for McNamara,” published July 7, 2009, shortly after the death of Robert McNamara, McClatchy newspapers, mcclatchydc.com, accessed January 24, 2014. Khan Academy. "U.S. Involvement in the Vietnam War: the Gulf of Tonkin and Escalation, 1964." Accessed March 8, 2024. LibraryPoint.Org. -. The "Vietnam War Fast Facts." Accessed March 14, 2024. McNamara, Robert S. The Essence of Security. Harper & Row, 1968.. McNamara, Robert S. In Retrospect: The Tragedy and Lessons of Vietnam. New York: Vintage Books, 1996. Nylen, Robert. The. Guts: Combat, Hell-raising, Cancer, Business Start-ups, and Undying Love: One American Guy's Reckless, Lucky Life. Random House, 2009