June 1971 was when Marine Colonel Robert Heinl published his article on the "collapse" of the armed forces in the Armed Forces Journal, June 1971. He cited, by this time, cases of avoiding combat, murder of officers and NCOs, race war, drug dependence, 144 underground newspapers and 14 GI dissent organizations, peace activities -- including fasts -- among active-duty soldiers, higher desertion rates, and the lowest morale in our military's history. Historian Marilyn Young believes such evidence as this made Nixon's Vietnamization policies a matter of necessity.

Students should read this article online at Professor Grover Furr's website: The Collapse of the Armed Services.