Note: The following is one of a series of articles looking at events in the history of Bulloch County.

Sonia Kahn's article, entitled "The Origins of America's Unlucky Lottery," was published on the National Archives blog's online website (prologue.blogs.archives.gov) in 2017.

Kahn wrote "America entered (WWI) with a tiny army by European standards. We had just 100,000 volunteer troops — hardly enough to have any real impact on the fighting in Europe."

Then, "That changed on May 18, 1917, when Pres. Woodrow Wilson signed into law the Selective Service Act to draft soldiers. Federal conscription — compulsory military service — was not a new idea."

Then, once again, war broke out in Europe. President Roosevelt signed the Selective Training and Service Act of 1940. This bill created the nation's first peacetime draft, and created the new Selective Service Board.

In every state, in each county, and in the largest cities, draft boards were created. Some 900,000 men between the ages of 21 and 36 were required to immediately register for the draft.

The National World War Two Museum in New Orleans' online website (www.nationalww2museum.org) posted a short article entitled "Research Starters: The Draft and World War Two."

It read, "On Sept. 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."

And, "This was the first peacetime draft in United States' history. Those who were selected from the draft lottery were required to serve at least one year in the armed forces."

Once the war started, "draft terms (were) extended through the duration of the fighting. By the end of the war, 50 million men between 18 and 45 had registered for the draft and 10 million had been inducted."

In Bulloch County the local draft board was run by Frank Grimes. Georgia Gov. E.D. Rivers called for all public school systems across the state to schedule a day for draft registration.

The Bulloch Herald Oct. 31, 1940 paper announced ten drawings from the “National Draft Lottery.” Judge Lanier, Judge McCroan, Bulloch Times Editor Turner and Bulloch Herald Editor Coleman supervised.

The numbers were: #58, Jesse Ellis of Portal; #105, Postal Boyd of Ellabelle; #120, Harley Newman of Statesboro; #188, Henry Kirkland of Statesboro; and #192, Robert Oglesby of Portal.

The numbers continued: #2441, Lee Strickland of Brooklet; #2451, Slydelle Harville, #2563, Jesper Smith of Statesboro; #2670, Thomas Beck of Statesboro; and #2698, Willie Sanders.

They reported to the local draft board, where they were assigned to the Army, Navy, Air Force, Marine Corps, Coast Guard, Coast & Geodetic Survey, the U.S. Public Health Service, or active National Guard units.

The Merchant Marine had official Army units assigned to their ships for protection. Penalties for failing to enroll/register were severe: up to five years in federal prison, and/or a fine of up to $10,000.

Once war was declared, a new Selective Service Act was passed. This both placed men between the ages of 18 and 45 subject to military service, and required all men between the ages of 18 and 65 to register.

All federal judges, ministers and theological students, men with dependents, "physically, mentally, and morally deficient men," and actively enrolled college students were exempted.

In 1940, the length of service was 12 months, but it was soon extended to 18 months. After several more extensions, the length of service for new inductees was until the war was over plus two years.

Roger Allen is a local lover of history who provides a brief look each week at the area's past. E-mail him at rwasr1953@gmail.com.