Selective Service Act of 1940
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| Other short titles |
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| Long title | An Act to provide for the common defense by increasing the personnel of the armed forces of the United States and providing for its training. |
| Nicknames | Burke-Wadsworth Act |
| Enacted by | the 76th United States Congress |
| Effective | September 16, 1940 |
| Citations | |
| Public law | 76-783 |
| Statutes at Large | 54 Stat. 885, Chapter 720 |
| Codification | |
| Titles amended | 50 U.S.C.: War and National Defense |
| U.S.C. sections created | 50 U.S.C. Appendix § 301 et seq. |
| Legislative history | |
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The Selective Training and Service Act of 1940, also known as the Burke-Wadsworth Act, Pub.L. 76–783, 54 Stat. 885, enacted September 16, 1940, was the first peacetime conscription in United States history. This Selective Service Act required that men who had reached their 21st birthday but had not yet reached their 36th birthday register with local draft boards. Later, when the U.S. entered World War II, all men from their 18th birthday until the day before their 45th birthday were made subject to military service, and all men from their 18th birthday until the day before their 65th birthday were required to register.
The act required all American men between the ages of 21 and 35 to register for the draft. Draftees were selected by lottery. If drafted, a man served for 12 months. Inductees had to remain in the Western Hemisphere or in United States possessions or territories located in other parts of the world. The act provided that not more than 900,000 men were to be in training at any one time.
Section 5 (g) of the Act contained a provision for conscientious objection:
The draft began in October 1940, with the first men entering military service on November 18. By the early summer of 1941, President Franklin D. Roosevelt asked the U.S. Congress to extend the term of duty for the draftees beyond twelve months to a total of eighteen months, plus any additional time that he could deem necessary for national security. On August 12, the United States House of Representatives approved the extension by a single vote. As Under Secretary of the Army Karl R. Bendetson said in an oral history interview, "Mr. Rayburn banged the gavel at a critical moment and declared the Bill had passed." The Senate approved it by a wider margin, and Roosevelt signed the Service Extension Act of 1941 into law on August 18.
Many of the soldiers drafted in October 1940 threatened to desert once the original twelve months of their service was up. Many of these men painted the letters "O H I O" on the walls of their barracks in protest. These letters were an acronym for "Over the hill in October," which meant that the men intended to desert upon the end of their twelve months of duty. Desertions did occur, but they were not widespread. Following the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, on December 7, 1941 millions of American men entered the United States' military's ranks both by volunteering and by conscription.
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