4 - The Black Vault

THE BDM CORPORATION
~5-3).5/
"Socio-Economic Backgrond,"). They found that two socio-economic indicators
infl.uenced the incidence of Vietnam casualties suffered by these
communities.
income level.
These indicators were personal education level and family
A study conducted by the Universit,. of !Iutre Dame h.ad indicated
that high school dropouts were twice as likely to serve in the military as
were college graduates. This study also indicated that lower class individuals
were a~so more likely to serve t.han middle or upper class Americans.
(See Figure 5-1).4/
The Cook County study substantiated these findings. Curry a-.id
Badillo found that an inverse relationship existed between education level
and casualties and income level and casualties. (See Figure 5-2 and
Curry and Badiflo found no correlation between incidence of
casualties and the racial composition of the Cook County communities. (See
Figure 5-4).§/ Black casualties exceeded the black percewtage of American
society until the Army a-tively intervened to constrain this trend. (See
Figure 5-5).Z/
Curry and Badillo concluded that these excess casualties
were not based on an intentional discriminatinn against black Americans.
Rather, blacks tended to have less education and come from poorer families
whites. Selective Service Sthan Regulations and military assignment policies
tended to select individuals with these char:,cteristics to serve as
combat soldiers in Vietnam. According to Curry and Badillo, it was social
class, not race, that determined Vietnam service. Since minorities were
over- represented among the lower social classes, unintentional institutional
racism was produced.
3. 1968 Civil Rights Group
As a result of rising racial tension i.j the civilian community
and within the military, the Department of Defense organized a Civil Rights
Group in 1968. This group traveled worldwide in an attempt to discover the
racial atmosphere and perceptions within the military.
group's find';ng,:
A letter from the Department of the Army indicates some of the
5-4