Question

What was the significance of the draft in WW2

Answer 1

On September 16, 1940, the United States instituted the Selective Training and Service Act of 1940, which required all men between the ages of 21 and 45 to register for the draft. This was the first peacetime draft in United States' history. Those who were selected from the draft lottery were required to serve at least one year in the armed forces. Once the U.S. entered WWII, draft terms extended through the duration of the fighting. By the end of the war in 1945, 50 million men between eighteen and forty-five had registered for the draft and 10 million had been inducted in the military.
Although the United States was not at war, many people in the government and in the country believed that the United States would eventually be drawn into the wars that were being fought in Europe and East Asia. Isolationism, or the belief that American should do whatever it could to stay out of the war, was still strong. But with the fall of France to the Nazis in June 1940, Americans were growing uneasy about Great Britain’s ability to defeat Germany on its own. Our own military was woefully unprepared to fight a global war should it called upon to do so. National polls showed a growing majority in favor of instituting a draft.

Answer 2

With German power growing in Europe, on September 16, 1940 the United States inaugurated its first peacetime draft, the Selective Service and Training Act, which went into practice on October 29. With every male from ages 18 to 65 registered and divided by district, the number of the district was placed in a capsule, the capsules collected in a fishbowl and stirred, and capsules selected. The registered individuals in each district were then checked by their local draft board for eligibility (the choicest being “I-A”), with allowances made for physical disabilities (IV-F), education, work in important war industries (II-A), men who were the primary support for children not their own and certain other dependents (III-A) or conscientious objectors (who were usually redirected to noncombatant roles, such as medics). Most selectees dutifully entered service, but many swore that they would not go beyond their first year, writing OHIO (“Over the Hill In October”) on the barracks walls. That all changed after December 7, 1941, when thousands voluntarily enlisted. In 1942 my father, an ardent anti-fascist from before the war, had a job judged to be important for the war effort (II-A) and had an eye and ear defect (IV-F), but he lied his way around both to join the Navy and served with distinction until July 1945.