Question: How Long Did Drafted WWII Soldiers Serve?

ww2-soldiers

I’m working on a story and have a question that I would have thought would be easy to answer. But I’ve run into dead ends (maybe I’m just being stupid this morning) so maybe you can help answer my question.

If you were drafted into the military during World War II, how long were you required to serve. Previously, I had always just assumed the stints were the usual four years that we associate with military duty. But some indications are that it might have been two years. This Wikipedia entry (and we all know how you have to be somewhat careful with that) states, “An amendment [to the Selective Training and Service Act (STSA) of 1940] increased this to 18 months in 1941.” So maybe that’s the answer? Slightly less than two years?

If any military historians out there have the definitive answer, I would much appreciate the assistance.

4 Comments

  1. I am also curious as to the answer to this question, for the last 3 years i’ve been pondering the answer… still not sure.

  2. Not a historian, but my father was drafted in Oct or Nov 1942 when he was 43. He was married and my mother was pregnant with me. He first went to fort dix as they lived nj. Then he went by train to armorer school in Texas, Allo field. He was discharged in March 1943, I think, about a month after I was born.
    When he & my mother died in the 1980s they were buried in a veteran cemetery because he had served at least 90 days.
    For many years I thought that all these older men were only required to serve 3 months, but according to wikipedia the term was longer. I did see his discharge paper years ago, and don’t remember seeing anything about a medical reason. Perhaps the air corps realized he had 2 dependents by then.

  3. Draft was 2 years
    Enlistment 3 years
    War Acts required you to remain on active duty until war ended!
    Discharges after war started with those having served the most time in military . A large enough number chose to stay in some were accepted to maintain strength of defense of country. A number were released before their enlistment was expired
    But again determination was to a level to maintain national defense.

  4. I recall the term ‘duration plus 2’. If you enlisted and your term expired while the war was still going on, you reverted to the ‘duration plus2’. My Dad enlisted in 1935 and re-enlisted in 1939 for 4 years. His term was up in 1943, and he was subject to the above ‘duration plus2’, so he re-enlisted for four years to get the bonus. He ended up in Korea and was finally discharged in 1955 after 20 years of service. I enlisted in 1958 and was given my final separation in 2000. Most of the time was active reserve with a break to get married and have 3 children. The reserves were a welcome rest for my family and for me. Life is good. I am blessed.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *