We talk easily and often about the Greatest Generation—the 10 million Americans who fought to defeat Nazi Germany and Imperial Japan. This week we celebrate what will likely be the last commemoration with the living of those men who stormed the beach at Normandy in 1944 and endured the privations of Guadalcanal. But who were they? Those of us who live in peace because of their sacrifices know too little of them. So in honor of the 80th anniversary of D Day, here’s a little primer on the American military of 1944.
The Selective Service Act requiring all men ages 21 to 45 to register for the draft passed by a single vote in 1940. It was the first peacetime draft in American history. A year later, after the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, the declaration of war against Japan and Germany passed with just one dissenting vote in the Houses of Congress.
Once in the war, men were drafted for the duration. 50 million American men were registered, ageing from 18 to 65. 39 percent of them—more than six million—were volunteers; it was relevant for many that if you volunteered, you could choose your branch of service. 6,500 local draft boards examined draftees, aided by 30 thousand local doctors.
Standards were rigorous, in part because the government was still recovering from the unanticipated costs of veteran’s benefits in World War I, which exceeded a billion dollars. There were four categories: 1A was fit for service; Class 2 were able-bodied men deferred from military service because their jobs were important either for the war effort or the economy; Class 3 were men with family obligations as single parents or, in some cases, lone sons; and category 4F designated men unfit for service for physical or psychological reasons. Those reasons included dental problems, flat feet, eyesight, and venereal disease. By 1942, these “remediable defects” were corrected with glasses, dental care, or other treatments.
Still, 40 percent of draftees were judged ineligible. A full quarter of the ineligible suffered from malnutrition, the long shadow of food scarcity during the depression. There were 43,000 conscientious objectors, mostly from Quaker or Mennonite pacificist religions; those men did civilian service as firefighters and even participated in medical tests, like a study of the effects of starvation.
In 1935, there were 119,000 soldiers in the US Army, and 20,000 Marines. At the height of the war in 1945, the Army had grown to eight million soldiers, and the Marine Corps to 476,000 Marines.
On average, the duration of their service was 33 months. 73% percent of them served overseas, on average for 16 months. The casualty rate was surprisingly low: only 8.6 combat deaths per 1,000 men and only 18 non-fatal wounded per thousand. Still . . . that added up to 407,316 Americans killed in action and 671,278 wounded. The unit with the highest casualty rate was the 8th Air Force, which suffered 65 percent wounded or killed.
There were 50,000 deserters from the American military during the war. General Eisenhower ordered the only execution; during the Battle of the Bulge, given the casualties fighting forces were suffering, he felt he needed to make an example.
900,000 African Americans served. 350,000 American women served as WAVEs and WACs, nurses, and pilots. 33,000 Japanese Americans served, 6,000 of whom were recruited from internment camps. The 442nd Infantry, a unit comprised of Japanese Americans, was the most decorated Army unit of the war.
These are the Boys of Pont du Hoc that Reagan extolled in his exquisite commemoration from 1984 and whose courage saved the Free World. Spare a thought for them on this 80th anniversary of the Normandy landings.
Spare a thought for Charles Canham, who joined the Army in 1919, was made Sergeant in 1921 and sent to West Point to become an officer. He served in the Philippines and Shanghai in the inter-war years. Commanding the 116th Infantry Regiment, he was among the first to land at Omaha Beach. He was shot through the wrist and refused to be evacuated, walking upright on the beach to set an example. A soldier in the 116th said, “I got the hell out of there and moved forward. I was more afraid of Colonel Canham than I was of the Germans.”
Commanding the 8th Infantry Division during the Battle of the Bulge, he went to accept the German surrender. He showed up muddy in combat fatigues, escorted by a Corporal and a Sergeant, rifles slung over their shoulders. The Wehrmacht officers were resplendent in their mess dress, asked to see his credentials. Brigadier General Canham gestured at his soldiers and replied “these are my credentials.” It remains the motto of the American Army’s 8th Infantry still.
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