Draft Cards

Six weeks after the United States formally entered the First World War, the U.S Congress passes the Selective Service Act on May 18, 1917, giving the U.S. president the power to draft soldiers. A few months later, 10 million men had registered for the nations first military draft. By the end of the war about 24 million men had registered under the Selective Service Act. The U.S. sent about 4.6 million men to the European Theater, of those 2.75 million were draftees.

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. Initially selectees from the draft lottery were required to serve 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.