You are Hereby Invited...

“Whereas the Congress has enacted and I have this day approved the Selective Training and Service Act of 1940, which declares that it is imperative to increase and train the personnel of the armed forces of the United States and that in a free society the obligations and privileges of military training and service should be shared generally in accordance with a fair and just system of selective compulsory military training and service; and Whereas the said Act contains, in part, the following provisions…

Excerpted from Proclamation 2425

President Franklin Delano Roosevelt

September 16, 1940

Author Photo

During the Revolutionary War, the Civil War, and World War I, America held drafts to fill their need for troops. However, the Selective Training and Service Act of 1940 (also known as the Burke-Wadsworth Act for the two senators who introduced the legislation), was America’s first peacetime draft.

The act required men who had reached their 21st birthday, but not yet their 36th birthday, to register with local draft boards. After the U.S. entered the war, all men from their 18th birthday until the day before their 65th birthday were required to register, while those between eighteen and forty-five were subject to military service. Service was determined by a national lottery, and the draftee was required to serve on active duty for twelve months, then remain in a reserve status for ten years, until he reached forty-five-years of or was discharged, whichever came first. The act also stated that except in times of war, not more than 900,000 men were to be in training at any one time.

A month after the bill’s passage, the draft began with the first inductees entering service on November

Woodring and Family
Public Domain

18, 1940. In early summer, 1941, the president asked Congress to extend the service time for draftees to a total of thirty months, plus any additional time needed for national security. The extension squeaked through the House by one vote, with Roosevelt’s former Secretary of War Harrry Woodring among those against the legislation. The Senate approved the bill by a wider margin, and Roosevelt signed the Service Extension Act of 1941 into law on August 18, 1941.

O H I O – Over the Hill in October. The acronym was reportedly painted on barracks’ walls in bases across the nation as many of the draftees selected in October 1940 threatened to desert at the end of their twelve-month requirement. Some desertions did occur, but were not widespread. Then Pearl Harbor was attacked, and further amendments were made to the act.

Public Domain

Between 1940 and 1945 seven mass registrations were conducted, and over forty-five million men were registered. Part of the system included a “sorting process” that applied classes and subclasses to those called. Local boards were given jurisdiction over the classifications, and appeals were allowed. Exemptions were granted for Conscientious Objectors who were assigned work “of national importance.” Physical examinations assessed a person’s acceptability, then the individuals were inducted into the armed forces, which made the final determination of acceptability.

Needless to say, both men and women waited on tenterhooks for the dreaded draft notice.

_____________________

War’s Unexpected Gift

Love and war don’t mix. Or do they?

Eager to do even more for the war effort, nurse Gwen Milford puts in for a transfer from a convalescent hospital outside of London to an evac hospital headed across Europe. Leap-frogging from one location to the next, nothing goes as expected from stolen supplies to overwhelming numbers of casualties. Then, there’s the handsome doctor who seems to be assigned to her every shift. As another Christmas approaches without the war’s end, can she find room in her heart for love?

Purchase Link: https://books2read.com/u/4jG2wl

Linda Shenton Matchett writes happily-ever-after historical Christian fiction about second chances and women who overcome life’s challenges to be better versions of themselves.

Whether you choose her books set in the Old West or across the globe during WWII, you will be immersed in the past through rich detail. Follow the journeys of relatable characters whose faith is sorely tested, yet in the end, emerge triumphant. Be encouraged in your own faith-walk through stories of history and hope.