re: #211 HappyWarrior

My grandfather who was 29 at the time of the 42 draft wanted to sign up but they wouldn’t let him because of his back. I have no idea what branch he wanted to go in or if he would have been commissioned (I assume so, he was a college grad and had been at the DOL for seven years at the time). I’m one of the few people in my generation that doesn’t have a WWII vet for a grandpa. My other grandpa who was much younger than my aforementioned grandpa was 12 when Pearl Harbor happened and later served in Korea. His older brothers were in WWII though as was his brother in law, my great uncle.

My dad got an exemption because he was the only financial support for his mother. Also, he had a heart murmur. So, he did civilian duty with the Army Signal Corps installing and repairing aircraft radios. My elder maternal uncle was a scrawny little guy, but he got drafted and sent to the Aleutians for bomb disposal duty. His younger brother, though, had a bad stutter and was classified 4F. He ended up serving in the merchant marine.

Oh, and my mom worked in a factory that made aircraft parts. I’ve forgotten the name.