Historical Articles New: May 20, 2018.

Under Age Veterans of World War II

Up to 1939 the minimum age to enlist in the military within the United States was 21. In 1940, with the Europe already at war and when the inevitable involvement of the United States could be seen, the enlistment age was dropped to 18. In 1943, a seventeen year old could legally enlist with the consent of their parents or guardian.

There were a significant number of under age veterans during World War II. There were about 250,000 under age veterans in World War II including males and females, about 50,000 got caught and were sent home. (1) Those that got caught, lost any medals they earned and all veteran benefits. If a veteran made it to age 18 without getting caught, the enlistment was presumed valid. Many that did get caught, once they reached the age of 18, re-enlisted. (2)

One of the most famous cases of underage enlistment was that of Calvin Graham. He enlisted at age 12. He was caught, discharged, and lost all benefits. His medals were not restored until 1978. It took and act of Congress to get his benefits in 1988. His Purple Heart was restored in 1994, after his death. (3)

There were a myriad of reasons why underage enlistments occurred. Ray Jackson said "With the underage veterans there were three things that drove this. One was patriotism. One was poverty. And the third was adventure." (2)

After the war, there were many veterans that enlisted underage, who feared they could not get veterans benefits. This was not true. Any veteran that was honorably discharged were eligible to receive their benefits.

It was relative easy to enlist underage. At the time of World War II, almost at third of all Americans did not have birth certificates. (5) School records and other records could be altered by enlistees. Or, they simply lied and military recruiters let it slide.

Source information.

(1) Tony Welch, DON'TÂ COUNTÂ HIMÂ OUTÂ YET !, American Veterans Center, The World War II Veterans Committee, http://www.americanveteranscenter.org/2012/02/veterans-of-underage-military-service/,1100 N. Glebe Road, Suite 910, Arlington, Virginia, February 2012.

(2) Unknown Authors, Young Warriors: Lying About Age to Enlist, ABC News, https://abcnews.go.com/GMA/story?id=3850523&page=1, November 11, 2007.

(3) Unknown Authors, Calvin Graham, Wikipedia, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Calvin_Graham, May 20, 2018.

(4) Unknown Authors, Children in the Military, Wikipedia, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Children_in_the_military, May 20, 2018.

(5) Erin Blackmore, The History of Birth Certificates is Shorter Than You Might Think, The History Channel A&E Networks, https://www.history.com/news/the-history-of-birth-certificates-is-shorter-than-you-might-think, 2017.

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