A reader of my recent post, “Army Values and Standards of Conduct,” reminds me of Arlo Guthrie’s Alice’s Restaurant. This tells the story of how one could be unfit for conscription to Vietnam for a criminal record for littering even though if you went to Vietnam you would be killing people that were no threat to the United States. The classic line is: “I’m sittin’ here on the Group W bench ’cause you want to know if I’m moral enough to join the Army, burn women, kids, houses and villages after bein’ a litterbug.”

Thanks to DS.

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