Conscription in America During Two World Wars

By Dr. G. L. Miller

When war began in Europe in 1914, and quickly involved many European nations, the American people were strongly against any American involvement, even though they were shocked by Germany's brutal invasion of Belgium, and perplexed by Germany's use of submarines which could not, by their nature, follow the customary rules of engagement, which required that unarmed ships could be sunk only if proper provision was made for the safety of their passengers and crew. Britain's sea blockade of Germany was intensified by their mining the north sea, to which the Germans retaliated by declaring the entire sea around the British isles to be a war zone, and threatened to sink all enemy ships within those waters. The 1915 torpedoing of the British Cunard liner Lusitania off the coast of Ireland with the loss of nearly 1200 persons, of whom 128 were Americans, caused international uproar, and by 1917 the effectiveness of the British blockade had driven Germany to announce that virtually all ships in the war zone, including American vessels, would be attacked.

President Woodrow Wilson, though still anxious to keep America out of the war, was forced to respond. His first attempt, which was to arm American merchant ships, failed, and when German U-boats began to sink American ships, Wilson went before Congress on April 2, 1917, and asked for a declaration of war, which Congress quickly granted.

It is one thing, of course, to declare war, and quite another to have the resources needed to fight. Wilson had opposed mobilization up to this time, but now the U. S. suddenly needed a million men in uniform as well as equipment—airplanes, ships, armor and other supplies—and psychological preparedness for trench warfare. The president called for volunteers, but three weeks later, only some 32,000 had enlisted. Conscription seemed to be the only reasonable course.

Despite considerable opposition, Congress passed the Selective Service Act in May 1917, more than a month after the declaration of war. The act called for the registration on June 5, 1917 (two months after the war declaration) of all men aged 21 through 30. Ten million men were examined by local boards for physical and mental fitness and of these about 700,000 were called up for service at once. These were chosen by a national lottery, but local boards could exempt or defer men on hardship grounds. A second conscription law was passed in August 1918, extending registration to all men between the ages of 18 and 45. By the end of the war, some 2.8 million conscripts had served.

Soon after the war ended in 1918, the Selective Service passed into history and the great majority of conscripts were discharged. The army was once again reduced to a small standing force. No draft system existed in the United States from that time until 1940. By the end of the 1930s, however, it appeared likely that the U. S. would be involved in another major war.

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With the passage of the Selective Training and Service Act, the nation's first peacetime draft was signed into law on September 16, 1940 by president Franklin D. Roosevelt. The legislation called for nationwide registration of all men between the ages of 21 and 35, whom the army estimated to number 16,500,000, the first 75,000 of whom would be drafted and sent to camps in November. Subsequent registrations extended the lower age limit to 18, and the upper limit to 64. Throughout the war, younger men were required to register as they became 18. In the six group registrations that were held through the end of 1942, a total of 9604 men from Portage County were registered, of whom all in the age range from 18 to 44 are listed in the index.

The Portage County draft board, appointed by the president, consisted of five members: Wilson S. Delzell, John A. Meleski, and Harry J. Levi from the city; Bert Somers from Stockton; and George Crowell from Almond. Additionally, Dr. Maurice G. Rice served as medical examiner and attorney W. E. Fisher served as appeal agent. The Selective Training and Service Act left all determinations of eligibility for service, and all decisions regarding exemptions, to the local county draft boards.

On December 13, 1941, five days after Pearl Harbor was attacked by the Japanese, the act of 1940 was broadened to provide more rapid expansion of the armed forces. By the end of the war 45 million men had registered, of whom more than 10 million, representing two thirds of the armed forces, were conscripted.

After World War II the U. S. continued the draft for some years. Men were required to register with the local draft board upon reaching their 18th birthdays, and were subject to random call for 24 months of active duty. Conscription authority expired in 1973, and draft registration was suspended in 1975.