Courier Tribune
12 Dec 1940
page 1
Forty-Five of 211 are ready
In the Draft Group
Classification Begins to Show Percentage of Men Available
The Nemaha county draft board has sent out 340 questionnaires to men registered in this county for the draft. This is a fifth of the total county registration and unless there are orders to the contrary, no more questionnaires will be sent until the first of the new year.
The board I now wading through filled and returned questionnaires, in order to determine the classifications in which the registrants would be placed. As each man is classified, he is sent a notice of his classification. If he feels it is not correct, he has five days in which to appeal.
Of the first 211 men classified, 45 fall in class 1-A, which means they are ready for immediate call to the service. This is roughly 21 per cent.
Most of the classification by the draft board is automatic.
There are four main classifications, reviewed here for general information.
Class 1 is for the man available for service. It is broken into five alphabetical sections. A is for the man fit for general military duty. B if for the man fit for limited service, perhaps limited by some physical handicap from such activity as marching but still a good man to serve his country in other ways, say in radio duty or some similar service. C is for those already members of the military or naval forces of the United Stes. D is for the young man in school, who is fit and ready for service by July 1, 1941; E is for student fit for liited service and available by July 1, 1941.
General Class 2 has but one alphabet character. The Classification 2-A is for all who are deferred because of their occupational status.
Class 3 also has but one division. The designation 3-A is for all who are deferred from service because of dependents.
Class 4 is divided as follows: 4-A, the man has already completed service for his country; 4-B, the official is deferred by law; 4-C, the alien who has not declared his intention of becoming a citizen; 4-D the minister or student of divinity; 4-E the conscientious objector; 4-F the registrant who is physically, mentally, or morally unfit.
The 45 men found to be in Class 1-A may not all be ready for service, since some of them may be rejected through medical examination.
The board is having a few appeals; is filing them, but does not know just yet what to tell the men to do. the nearest appeal board at present is at Topeka and it is inconvenient for some to go there.
In some cases the local board apparently will play safe, such as concerning questions of a man’s health. A man might claim he had physical disorder of a type not determinable without physical examination. If the board deferred him simply on his statement, there would be a chance the board would get fooled, since the members are not medical men. The classification can be set according to other facts on the questionnaire and changed later if medical examination warrants.
Billboard at City Hall
The billboard which the county draft board uses has been taken from the Emery building doorway and is now in the large archway of the city hall, where those who may wish to look at it are fairly well sheltered from the weather.