On August 24, 1918, less than a month after our 21st birthday, my twin brother Willis and I went down to the Riley County Courthouse and registered for the draft. Board registrar Ruth Hutchings took down my information and I signed it. Since our father was already dead and only my brother and I were left to run the family farm and care for our mother, it was determined that only one of us would need to serve. I was assigned a IA classification. Though badly deteriorated, here is the notice I received from the local draft board less than a week after registering. My brother Willis received a "III T" classification. The "T" stood for Temporary meaning that he would only be inducted when all of the men receiving I & II classifications had been taken.
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