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By Paul M. Weyrich
November 06, 2006
I was working in the United States Senate in 1971 when John F. Kerry made his explosive charges about his colleagues in the military in Vietnam. I was there when Senator J. William Fulbright (D-AK), Chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, before which Kerry testified, used Kerry’s testimony to demonstrate why we needed to end our involvement in Vietnam. It was clear at the time how much Kerry detested those who serve in the military. Kerry went on to participate in the so-called Winter Soldier hearings. What was alleged at these “hearings” turned out to be false. Soldiers testified to having seen events when they were fifty miles from the location of the events. Others claimed to have carried out certain orders although they were not in Vietnam at the time. Some were not even in the military during the conflict. All of this led to an unprecedented attack on our military, from which we did not recover until the administration of President Ronald Reagan in 1981.
Through the years Kerry has again made his contempt for the military clear. Just last week Kerry made a comment that has been interpreted widely as another attack on the military. He claims it was a botched joke, but no one, including those in his audience in California, found it funny. In fact, witnesses say that there were audible gasps when Kerry made his remark. If it really had been an attack upon President George W. Bush rather than upon the military and no one had understood it, he would have started over and told the joke as he claims he intended. When conservatives and Republicans began to demand an apology Kerry’s first reaction was to attack them, saying he would apologize to no one. Then after Democrats insisted that he apologize, some candidates cancelled their campaign events with Kerry and one Democrat returned the contribution which had been made to his campaign. Kerry finally apologized. He apologized that we did not understand his joke. The arrogance of this man knows no bounds.
Kerry holds such a negative opinion of the military and apparently still believes, or wants us to believe, that we have a draft. On the contrary, we have an all-volunteer force. The idea that the Army consists mostly of the poor and uneducated is simply false.
The Heritage Foundation’s Center for Data Analysis has done a remarkable study comparing volunteers from 2003 to those in 2005. Dr. Timothy Kane, who wrote the study, notes that the number of recruits from lower-income brackets fell. For households with an income of up to $29,353 the percent of the population between ages 18 and 24 as a whole was 19.79. In 2003 14.61 percent of the volunteers in the military reflected that age level and income. Two years later, in 2005, the percentage of those recruits was 13.66. The next category of income studied was $29,283 to $36,462. This income bracket represented 20.04 percent of the population of 18 to 24 year-olds. In 2003 the recruits from that age group represented 19.56 percent of the military. In 2005 that had been reduced to 19.21 percent.
On the high end, incomes of $41,688 to $52,068 for 18 to 24 year-olds represent 20.10 percent of the population. In 2003, 22.52 percent of recruits came from that group. In 2005 the number was 22.82 percent. The highest level calculated was 18 to 24 year-olds with incomes of $52,071 to $200,001. This represents 20.02 of the general population. In 2003, the highest income group represented 22.17 percent of recruits. That compares with 2005, when these recruits amounted to 22.85 percent. Incomes from $35,000 and up represent around 60 percent of the American population yet they represent about 66 percent of the volunteers in our army.
The study went on to examine neighborhoods. In 2003 13.7 percent came from poor neighborhoods compared with 18 percent in 1999. Today 22.8 percent of our recruits come from the wealthiest neighborhoods. That compares with 18.6 percent in 1999. Such facts debunk the argument that our recruits are destitute and enlist to escape their terrible neighborhoods. There are more men and women from higher income brackets enlisting in the military than there are from lower brackets.
Another argument that Kerry and others in his camp have suggested is that the military is filled with minorities. In 2004 Caucasian Americans constituted 75.62 percent of recruitment. African-Americans were 12.17 percent of those recruited. In 2005 Whites were 73.12 percent of those recruited. African-Americans were 11.74 percent. Hispanics were 14.16 percent in 2004 whereas they were 12.29 percent in 2005. Again, one can see that the military does not consist predominantly of poor Blacks and Hispanics. Recruitment data also shows a remarkable distribution by region and by State. It is absolutely not true that the recruitment is coming from poor Black Southerners.
It is no wonder that Kerry has so much contempt for the military. He is among the elite in the country, having twice married into wealth. He looks down on those he believes fill the ranks of our military. He has not bothered to check the facts. Of course, this is not unusual. Senator Richard J. Durban (D-IL), Representative John P. Murtha (D-PA) and Kerry all have criticized the military with little knowledge of it. Facts and the truth mean nothing to these relativists. There are legitimate criticisms of the military and their lack of understanding of Fourth Generation warfare, as my colleague William S. Lind points out. But when the military is attacked irrespective of facts it helps maintain the status quo. Rather than having a real dialogue about ways to improve the military, the usual people rally to the defense of the military. No change comes about in these circumstances.
It is a pity because we really need to understand warfare against those who know no state, wear no uniform and whose only commitment is to an ayatollah. In the absence of this understanding, people of the same persuasion as Kerry will continue to make disrespectful statements and patriots will rise to defend the Flag. In the process we will ignore the real problems facing our military.
Paul M. Weyrich is Chairman and CEO of the Free Congress Foundation.
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