The Pittsburgh Press (July 11, 1941)
HEALTH AND DEFENSE
By Mrs. Walter Ferguson
The draft has brought stunning facts to public attention. People interested in the preservation of human freedom would do well to study them. We have a hunch they’ll be useful to future defense efforts.
In brief, here they are: By herding American youth into training camps, it has been discovered that far too many were underfed; vast numbers are mentally sick; hordes can neither read nor write, while only a few lack some physical ailment.
Dr. Arno Town, examining ophthalmologist (eye doctor), wants that eye and teeth defects are the cause of most rejections of young men for military service. His report discloses that 43% throughout the country are disqualified and said:
It is amazing how many fail to come up to minimum requirements and how many have never had any kind of an examination.
Only one conclusion is possible. The national defense movement is jeopardized because we failed to build health during the years when we were not thinking about war.
What were we thinking about? Having a good time, mostly. Remember? We were busy making more money so we could buy more cars and gin and Scotch and cigarettes. And all the while the fundamental things which create the desire for liberty within a nation were slowly crumbling. People who are half-sick, half-blind, half-crazy with a toothache, suffering from rickets or bad digestions, usually don’t give a damn about freedom, and are in no condition to repel its enemies on any front.
However, let’s not get too pessimistic. Education for health is a long and costly business. And I, for one, always feel cheered up when I realize that the National Society for the Prevention of Blindness, the cancer fighters, organizations to stamp out syphilis, hard-of-hearing societies and various other fine groups are doing business as usual. And this is one kind of business that must not be stopped on account of war.
Maybe Old Devil Mars will do us a little good, along with all the harm he inflicts. Maybe he’ll make us health-conscious.