Statement by the President Making Public a Report on Moral Safeguards for Selective Service Trainees.
UNDER the Selective Service Act of 1948 additional thousands of our young men will soon be assembled in camps for military training. I am most anxious that the Government take all practical steps to safeguard the religious, moral, educational, and recreational welfare of the personnel of the armed services. As that subject was strongly emphasized by the President's Advisory Commission on Universal Training in its report submitted on May 29, 1947, I convened a special session of the members of that Commission at the White House on August 3, 1948.
The Commission has amplified its original recommendations in the light of the new legislation and the recent experience of the armed services--particularly the great strides made in connection with the Experimental Training Unit at Fort Knox, Ky. The Commission has submitted the attached report. I have approved its recommendations and have directed the Secretary of Defense to carry out those recommendations which can be put into practice by the armed services.
As the Commission emphasizes, it must not be taken for granted that social responsibility for the religious, moral, educational, and recreational welfare of servicemen rests solely on the Army, the Navy, and the Air Force. I share the Commission's conviction that the spiritual and moral health of the Armed Forces is a vital clement in our national security. Together with a universal understanding of the principles of citizenship and American democracy, it constitutes the bedrock on which security and the success of military preparedness depend.
Much has already been done in this field by the armed services themselves and by individuals, groups of individuals, and communities throughout the country. An outstanding example is the Civilian Committee on Welfare and Recreation, appointed by the Secretary of Defense and headed by Dr. Lindsley F. Kimball. Other examples are the information and education programs of the armed services, the civilian advisory committees now functioning in many cities, the character guidance councils functioning within the Army, the many groups in and around Louisville, Ky., whose enthusiastic assistance contributed so greatly to the success of the Fort Knox experiment, and so on.
In order to further the work in this field, and in order to implement the Compton commission's recommendations, I am taking steps to create an overall Civilian Advisory Commission on Religious and Moral Welfare and Character Guidance in the Armed Forces. This commission, utilizing the already established activities operating in this field to the maximum possible extent, will coordinate the activities of the armed services and local communities.
Local communities will be invited to begin plans now for resumption of social welfare and religious activities for the benefit of the Armed Forces in their vicinity during duty hours. By such timely provision it is hoped that preparation will be well advanced when the new training centers begin to function in the near future.
It is my firm hope that by these means we will achieve the best possible training for young men, and at the same time can, through cooperation between communities and the armed services, contribute to a strong, united people.
Note: The Commission's report (9 PP. processed), dated September 13, 1948, is entitled "Report to the President on Moral Safeguards for Trainees To Be Inducted Under the Selective Service Act."
The report pointed out that 60 percent of the men in uniform were under 21 and that nearly all of the remaining 40 percent were under 26. This situation, so different from that of 1939, required different approaches to the problem. The report proposed that communities establish civilian interfaith service committees modeled after those in Louisville, Ky., and that the armed services assist communities in organizing such groups. Specific recommendations include the exchange of clergymen and chaplains in communities near service installations, the solicitation of cooperation of bars and taverns near service installations in denying sale of alcoholic beverages to those under 21, the requirement that servicemen under 20 stay only at service clubs or in approved homes, the reestablishment of wartime controls on venereal disease and prostitution, the revival of wartime social activities including dances and soldier shows, and the organization of servicemen's tours to places of historic and educational value.
The report of the President's Advisory Commission on Universal Training, dated May 29, 1947, is entitled "A Program for National Security" (Government Printing Office, 453 PP.).
A list of the members of the Commission is appended to the President's remarks at a meeting with them in December 1946 (see 1946 volume, this series, Item 268).
On October 27, 1948, the President issued Executive Order 10013 "Establishing the President's Committee on Religious and Moral Welfare and Character Guidance in the Armed Forces" (3 CFR, 1943-1948 Comp., p. 835).
Harry S Truman, Statement by the President Making Public a Report on Moral Safeguards for Selective Service Trainees. Online by Gerhard Peters and John T. Woolley, The American Presidency Project https://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/node/232803