WWII "Old Man's Draft" Registration Cards

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.

Example Records

Source Information

Publication Title

WWII "Old Man's Draft" Registration Cards

Total Records

Records: 12,788,446

Content Source

The National Archives

Record Group:

147

Published on Fold3

August 14, 2011

Last Updated

June 16, 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.