US ww1 drafts

[touchofmange]

i have a relative that emigrated to the US, and then with his son, signed up for the ww1 draft about 2 months before the end of the war.  It doesn't say anything about what they were going to be doing or if they were coming back to europe.  Are these forces drafts or something to do with the war effort in the US? Would there be any records i could trace?

appreciate any help thanks

[*Sandra*]

World War 1 Darft Registration Cards 1917 - 1918

https://familysearch.org/search/collection/1968530

Further info here:-

http://www.archives.gov/research/military/ww1/draft-registration/

Sandra

[Erato]

Note that this was a registration but it doesn't mean that the person necessarily served in the army.

[AMBLY]

Hi

The Draft Registration Forms were not enlistment s or attestations into the corps.  In 1917 and 1918, approx 24 million men in the US (US citizens or not) who were aged over 18  & under 46   were required by law to fill in the draft forms. The US only officially entered the fray by declaring  War on Germany in early April 1917.  Then in May 1917 the US Government passed the Act that required the registration for the Draft.

Not all men who registered for the Draft actually ended up serving.   Although they entered the war late, in the short time they were officially at war - the US had 4 million men signed up of which over 100.ooo men died ( 43,ooo in the 1918 flu epidemic).

The draft comprised of 3 separate stages:
   1) 5 Jun 1917: Men aged 21 to 31
   2) 5 Jun 1918 and again 24 Aug 1918: men who had turned 21 since June 1917. Plus, men not previously registered of any age 21 to 31, who were not already in the services.
   3) 12 Sep 1918 (2 months before the end of the war), men aged 18 to 21,  or 31 to 45 were required to register.

Sorry, I  don't know how you would acertain if your men were among those who did actually serve.

Cheers
AMBLY

[touchofmange]

ok thanks people, it was interesting even if it looks like a dead end.  I know they both lived beyond from the censuses anyway.


thanks again