Evening Republican, Volume 21, Number 160, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 24 July 1917 — Every Member of Uncle Sam’s Army Mentally and Physically Fit [ARTICLE]

Every Member of Uncle Sam’s Army Mentally and Physically Fit

By WARREN T. BROWNE

Every medical officer in the federal service who examines applicants for enlistment must certify in the case of a successful applicant that “he has no mental or physical defect disqualifying him for service in the United States army.” Ta the layman the tests made often seem unduly severe. Even civilian physicians are apt to consider the line too strictly drawn. In the examinations for the Plattsburg camp the candidate often appeared with a certificate from his physician stating that he was “fit for service, and vas extremely indignant when he was rejected by the army surgeon who made the examination. The result was that for many days the newspapers contained letters from candidates who assorted that they had always been “perfectly well,” had always “played tennis and golf,” and were star athletes a$ school and college. The answer might be made that war is neither tennis nor golf, and that even the perils and vicissitudes of the college athlete, from the bruises and fractures of the football field to the more insidious dangers of ice cream soda,-are hardly comparable with trench warfare. The recruit is*chosen from two points of view: First, the United States as an employer. Does he have the necessary intelligence and the required education to make a 'good soldier? By education I refer to his command of the English language and his apparent ability to understand and carry out commands. Second, the physical qualifications of the recruit. Has he sufficient physical endurance to carry out the daily routine of a soldier, and has he, or can he, develop sufficient reserve force to stand up under the strain of unusual physical exertion? No matter how welt a soldier serves during what might be called his normal activities, he is worse than useless if he becomes an additional burden to the army during periods of unusual stress.