Can someone explain this to me. We were still fighting WW II, but were we drafting high school students?
"At 93, a U.S. veteran was inspired by his great-granddaughter to finally receive his high school diploma. Pat Moore intended to graduate from Alvin High School in Texas in 1945 but was drafted by the Army Air Corps just before graduation. Decades later, he received his diploma alongside his great-granddaughter Bryssa."
I was class of 1946; some of my classmates were in uniform before graduation.
God bless him for the sacrifice! And congrats on his achievement
At the time, graduation from high school wasn't a reason for deferment. When men got to be 19, they were prime for the draft, even if they didn't graduate. If a man could read, write, and do some arithmetic, he was fit for service.
My mother "dropped" out of high school during the 1942-43 school year to care for my grandmother, who was recovering from gall bladder surgery, and bed-ridden for several months. She also had to care for her two younger sisters. Instead of graduating in June 1944, she graduated in June 1945. She also had classmates who had missed a year of high school while helping out on family farms. And in those days, there wasn't the "rush" to get graduated with people of your same age.
My dad and uncle both served in the Navy with men who didn't graduate from high school, but tested well enough to handle certain ratings requirements.
In 1945, especially in the Pacific Campaign, there were men needed for the coming November 1945 invasion of Japan. The draft actually increased to cover that potential need.
jerryc41 wrote:
Can someone explain this to me. We were still fighting WW II, but were we drafting high school students?
"At 93, a U.S. veteran was inspired by his great-granddaughter to finally receive his high school diploma. Pat Moore intended to graduate from Alvin High School in Texas in 1945 but was drafted by the Army Air Corps just before graduation. Decades later, he received his diploma alongside his great-granddaughter Bryssa."
Graduation in many places is the week/weekend after school ends (mine in 63 was) so if his local draft board timed it right he got drafted during the last week and had to report before the graduation ceremony so missed out on getting his ceremonial copy of his diploma and by the time the war was over he didn't really care about putting out any effort to get it as he was too busy trying to get a "real life" started. Which he was very successful at as witnessed by his being with a great-granddaughter at the ceremony.
I skipped my college graduation because:
1. I had a chance to work what turned out to be a 10 hour shift on a Sunday/holiday and it was already overtime anyway since I did almost 60 hours that week.
2. I had done a 3 year Regular Army Enlistment between my 2nd and 3rd years of college including 2 years in Nam so my attitude about the ceremony was a bit different than most students.
Oh, I picked up my diploma at the office the next week on my first day of grad classes for my teaching credential and when I finished that I got it through the mail because when the ceremony took place I was "Working".
Whenever I thanked my Dad for his service in WWII (Veterans Day, etc. ), he would respond that he didn’t have any choice in the matter! He was out of High School by then and working, and like many others attended college after the war.
jerryc41 wrote:
Can someone explain this to me. We were still fighting WW II, but were we drafting high school students?
"At 93, a U.S. veteran was inspired by his great-granddaughter to finally receive his high school diploma. Pat Moore intended to graduate from Alvin High School in Texas in 1945 but was drafted by the Army Air Corps just before graduation. Decades later, he received his diploma alongside his great-granddaughter Bryssa."
Pretty simple answer. By 1945, 10 million had registered for the draft. Once you hit 18 ... they could pull you...from anywhere.
He must have started school a year late.
I don't know about draft but I know in my high school 26 or 27 seniors quit school and joined the war. After the war most of them were given some basic test and given their certificate.
jerryc41 wrote:
Can someone explain this to me. We were still fighting WW II, but were we drafting high school students?
"At 93, a U.S. veteran was inspired by his great-granddaughter to finally receive his high school diploma. Pat Moore intended to graduate from Alvin High School in Texas in 1945 but was drafted by the Army Air Corps just before graduation. Decades later, he received his diploma alongside his great-granddaughter Bryssa."
This makes me feel both good and bad. Thanks to him for putting country over the ceremony but sad that he wasn't rewarded his certificate immediately when he returned home
tomad
Loc: North Carolina
I turned 18 two months after high school graduation and received my draft notice in the mail a couple of weeks later. When they want you they want you. That was in 1967. Luckily I had joined the Naval Air Reserve two days before the draft notice arrived so all I had to do was prove to them that I had already enlisted.
It’s likely that many young men dropped out of school to join the Army. One of those was Audie Murphy, the most decorated soldier of WWII. He falsified records at age 16 to get in the Army and at age 19 received the Medal of Honor.
My dad had a draft deferment because of his occupation. He quit his job and joined the Army because that is what men and women who cherished their freedom and loved their country did in 1943.
tomad wrote:
I turned 18 two months after high school graduation and received my draft notice in the mail a couple of weeks later. When they want you they want you. That was in 1967. Luckily I had joined the Naval Air Reserve two days before the draft notice arrived so all I had to do was prove to them that I had already enlisted.
I lost my deferment when my car died and I had to drop out of college after 1 1/2 years to work to buy another one. They sent me a draft notice and I said "Hell No! I will go in on my terms." So I enlisted in the Regular Army in March of 66.
Besides, I had been considering it for the GI Bill to get me through college to a teaching credential without having go to school and work at the same time. Then I worked the whole time until I got my degree and on while I did my grad work and got my credential and for several years after I started teaching. After that I just switched weekend and summer jobs, first to alarm response security and then retail in a friend's gun & police gear shop for the next 15 years.
Dang, for someone who makes an art out of "lazy" I sure spent a long time doing more than one thing at a time.
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