McNamara’s Folly: The Use of Low-IQ Troops in the Vietnam War plus The Induction of Unfit Men, Criminals, and Misfits

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In 1966, President Lyndon Johnson and Defense Secretary Robert McNamara were desperate to find additional troops for the Vietnam War, but they feared that they would alienate middle-class voters if they drafted college boys or sent Reservists and National Guardsmen to Vietnam. So, on October 1, 1966, McNamara lowered mental standards and inducted thousands of low-IQ men. Altogether, 354,000 of these men were taken into the Armed Forces and a large number of them were sent into combat. Many military men, including William Westmoreland, the commanding general in Vietnam, viewed McNamara’s program as a disaster. Because many of the substandard men were incompetent in combat, they endangered not only themselves but their comrades as well. Their death toll was appallingly high. In addition to low-IQ men, tens of thousands of other substandard troops were inducted, including criminals, misfits, and men with disabilities. This book tells the story of the men caught up in McNamara’s folly. Author’s Notes Prologue PART ONE: BRAVO COMPANY 1. Mesmerized by Dog Tags 2. A Thief in the Barracks 3. An Old Black Shoelace 4. “Weaklings and Fatties and Dummies” 5. Sleep Deprivation 6. Running Away 7. The Sergeants’ Great Fear 8. Hearing Voices 9. Two Varieties of Hell PART TWO: SPECIAL TRAINING COMPANY 10. Joe Tucker’s Bad Back 11. Not by Strength Alone 12. “I Refuse to Train!” 13. The Ugly Young 14. Sent by God? 15. “I Want to Know Why” PART THREE: PROJECT 100,000 16. Coercion 17. Avoidance 18. McNamara’s Plan 19. “A Crime Against the Mentally Disabled” 20. Sign up and See Paris PART FOUR: WAR IN A FARAWAY PLACE 21. Training for War 22. The Killing Fields of Vietnam 23. Casualties of War 24. “Rich Man’s War and a Poor Man’s Fight” 25. Walking Point 26. Stories Told by Veterans 27. Walking Wounded 28. Going Crazy 29. Crime and Punishment 30. Unfit for Combat, but He Wins a Silver Star PART FIVE: UNFIT MEN AND CRIMINALS 31. The Bottom of the Barrel 32. “If You Can Breathe, You’re In” 33. Too Heavy, Too Thin, Too Short 34. Criminals 35. Misfits 36. Who Was Who? PART SIX: WINNERS AND LOSERS 37. Success Stories 38. Absent Without Leave 39. Bad Paper 40. The Verdict on McNamara’s Folly 41. The Folly Continues Epilogue Appendix: Samples from the AFQT Acknowledgements Illustration Credits Sources About the Author