Drafted! Prelude to the Day of Infamy

The Pearl Harbor Sneak Attack By Japan December 7, 1941

Author: unknown
Source: Club 100 30th Anniversary Reunion, June 1972

Unknown veteran talks about being drafted before Pearl Harbor

No different from any other state of the Union, National U. S. Military Conscription had called up the eligibles from the Territory of Hawaii, a most integral possession of the United States, then, not a state.

Prior to December 1941, four draft calls had called up among her draftees, nearly 1500 AJA’s (Americans of Japanese Ancestry), and except for the Fourth Draft draftees undergoing recruit training at “Boom Town,” Schofield Barracks, all had been assigned to various stations throughout the major islands of Hawaii, primarily with the Hawaii National Guard’s 298th and 299th Infantry Regiments, which had been Federalized and mobilized into Active Duty prior to the Summer of 1940.

“Little did I dream that, when Uncle Sam ‘invited’ me involuntarily to join the Army through the 4th draft call in October 1941, 31 years ago, that I would be involved in a world conflict and be engaged in mortal combat elsewhere from the land of our birth.

On Saturday, December 6, 1941, routinely 90% of us went home on week-end passes, and luckily, not having caught any weekend details, I was one of the lucky 90 percenters.

Drafted! Prelude To The Day Of Infamy: The Pearl Harbor Sneak Attack By Japan December 7, 1941

No different from any other state of the Union, National U. S. Military Conscription had called up the eligibles from the Territory of Hawaii, a most integral possession of the United States, then, not a state.

Prior to December 1941, four draft calls had called up among her draftees, nearly 1500 AJA’s (Americans of Japanese Ancestry), and except for the Fourth Draft draftees undergoing recruit training at “Boom Town,” Schofield Barracks, all had been assigned to various stations throughout the major islands of Hawaii, primarily with the Hawaii National Guard’s 298th and 299th Infantry Regiments, which had been Federalized and mobilized into Active Duty prior to the Summer of 1940.

“Little did I dream that, when Uncle Sam ‘invited’ me involuntarily to join the Army through the 4th draft call in October 1941, 31 years ago, that I would be involved in a world conflict and be engaged in mortal combat elsewhere from the land of our birth.

On Saturday, December 6, 1941, routinely 90% of us went home on week-end passes, and luckily, not having caught any weekend details, I was one of the lucky 90 percenters.