Fourth Registration - World War II

Description Detail from a Fourth Registration Card from World War II

As we head into December and the anniversary of Pearl Harbor nears, we remember the sacrifices and loss of World War II. What was it like to live during that time?  There have been thousands of books written on World War II. How can we personalize that event in our family story? For those of us who research our family, many more resources are available online and on location in libraries and resource centers.
Whether your ancestor served in the war or was recorded in the draft, there are records available that help tell you a bit more about them. Let’s look at these records from our story telling perspective.

We’ve talked in the past about the many sites available to research such as Ancestry, FamilySearch, Fold3 and others across the world.  Today we’re going to look at the Old Man’s Draft in the United States.
 The year before Pearl Harbor, the selective service act required registration of all eligible men between the ages of 18 and 64.  The group in the Fourth Registration were the “old men”... although I don't consider people from the ages of 45 to 65 as old! Conducted on April 27, 1942, the World War II Old Man’s Draft required registration of men who were born on or after April 28, 1877 and on or before February 16, 1897 and was conducted on April 27, 1942.
 
Registration Card Information
Front of Card:​

• Serial #
• Name
• Address (Maybe you can’t find your ancestor in census records…perhaps this draft record will allow you to track down his location.)
• Date of Birth and age (This direct source is from your ancestor.)
• Place of Birth (Were they born where they are living now?  If you didn’t know where your ancestor was born, this is a great resource…even if you only get a county and state.)
• Telephone Number (It is interesting to see if your ancestor had a phone and what the phone numbers looked like.  Many in rural America did not have phones yet.  Possibly the reason for the dreaded telegram notifying family of the fate of their soldier.)
• Citizenship (Was your ancestor naturalized or were they born in the United States?)
• Occupation including employers name (Is your ancestor self-employed or working for a business?)
• Name and Address of person who will always know your address (Usually a relative but I’ve seen employers listed in this section too.)
• Signature (Anytime I get to see a signature of an ancestor, it brings them to life.)

 
Back of Card:

• Physical Description: race, eye color, hair color, skin complexion, weight, height (Since photos are black and white at this time, what other record will tell you so much about your ancestor such as height, eye color. This is probably my favorite information from this record.)
• Other obvious physical attributes that will aid in identification.  (Do they mean in case they are a casualty of the war. That’s sad and a little scary, isn’t it?)
• Signature of the Registrar for the local board and location (Perhaps your relative was the registrar?)
• Date of Registration (April 27, 1942)
• Official stamp

 
That’s a lot of information on a small two-sided card.  Do you see how this would help your story?  “Grandpa’s six-foot two frame eased into the seat of his Model T as he prepared to go to town to register for the ‘old man’s draft’.”  According to a notation on the Fold3 site, “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.”  To date, I haven’t found any relatives who were selected to serve as part of this "old man's draft".  It could be that as farmers, they were needed to grow the crops that  fed the country and the troups.
 
Resources:

• Ancestry.com. U.S., World War II Draft Registration Cards, 1942 [database on-line]. Lehi, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2010.
• Fold3  WWII "Old Man's Draft" Registration Cards
• FamilySearch.org  United States World War II Draft Registration Cards, 1942
• NARA  (U.S. National Archives and Records Administration)  You can view a PDF of the WWII Fourth Registration Form.  You can view the registration cards on location.  Here’s a link to more details.

 
Hopefully, looking at the Fourth Registration records has given you some ideas on how to incorporate this information into your family story. It's important to recognize the impact of war and other significant world events on our ancestors.
 
“Never in the field of human conflict was so much been owed by so many to so few.”
--Winston Churchill