WWII "Old Man's Draft" Registration Cards record example

    WWII "Old Man's Draft" Registration Cards

    Records: 12,788,446

    Each card contains the registrant's name, age, birth date and place, residence, employer, and physical description. After Pearl Harbor, the U.S. initiated a draft that reached beyond younger age groups. This registration was not intended to be used for military service, but to provide a complete inventory of manpower resources that could be used for national service. Registration on April 27, 1942, included men not already in the military who were born on or between April 28, 1877, and February 16, 1897.

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    Example Records

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    Source Information

    "Selective Service Registration Cards, World War II: Fourth Registration" database with images Fold3 (https://www.fold3.com/publication/765/wwii-old-mans-draft-registration-cards: accessed November 30, 2022)

    Publication Title
    WWII "Old Man's Draft" Registration Cards
    Total Records
    12,788,446
    Content Source
    The National Archives logoThe National Archives
    Record Group
    147
    Published on Fold3
    14 Aug 2011
    Last Updated
    16 Jun 2017
    Description
    WWII draft cards from the Fourth Registration, often called the "Old Man's Draft," because it registered men who were 45 to 64 years old at the time.