# What are the most accurate figures for the numbers of Americans drafted and conscripted into service in WWI? I've looked at quite a number **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [April 21, 2024, 5:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-the-most-accurate-figures-for-the-numbers-of-americans-drafted-and-conscripted-into-service-in-wwi-ive-looked-at-quite-a-number/1000572 "2024-04-21T05:52:52Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 8\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Octagon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/2acd7d/32.png) [@Octagon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Octagon)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2024, 5:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-the-most-accurate-figures-for-the-numbers-of-americans-drafted-and-conscripted-into-service-in-wwi-ive-looked-at-quite-a-number/1000572/1 "2024-04-21T05:52:52Z")
What are the most accurate figures for the overall number of Americans drafted and conscripted into service in WWI? I’m looking for separate number of drafted and conscripted men and women in the AEF in WWI. I’ve looked at quite a numbers and don’t know which ones to trust. ---
**Author:** ![bump](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7c8e57/32.png) [@bump](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bump)\ **Post date:** [April 22, 2024, 3:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-the-most-accurate-figures-for-the-numbers-of-americans-drafted-and-conscripted-into-service-in-wwi-ive-looked-at-quite-a-number/1000572/2 "2024-04-22T03:45:22Z")
Everything I’m finding says 2.8 million men were drafted, and another 2 million volunteered. This is from the Selective Service Administration (they would know!). In fact, the exact number is 2,810,296 men. It’s safe to say no women were drafted, considering that women are _still_ not required to register for Selective Service. ---
**Author:** ![Slithy\_Tove](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slithy_tove/32/18248_2.png) [@Slithy\_Tove](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Slithy_Tove)\ **Post date:** [April 22, 2024, 4:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-the-most-accurate-figures-for-the-numbers-of-americans-drafted-and-conscripted-into-service-in-wwi-ive-looked-at-quite-a-number/1000572/3 "2024-04-22T04:26:01Z")
No they weren’t drafted, but hundreds of American women enlisted. The navy and Marine women were stateside releasing men for the front lines, but army nurses worked shifts over 72 hours after major combat assaults, and the Signal Corps had the “Hello Girls” at the switchboards. Their uniforms had little lead weights sewn into the hems of their skirts in case the wind caught them. ---
**Author:** ![Octagon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/2acd7d/32.png) [@Octagon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Octagon)\ **Post date:** [April 22, 2024, 4:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-the-most-accurate-figures-for-the-numbers-of-americans-drafted-and-conscripted-into-service-in-wwi-ive-looked-at-quite-a-number/1000572/4 "2024-04-22T04:30:11Z")
Thanks bump. The point about women is often forgotten. ---
**Author:** ![nightshadea](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/7ba0ec/32.png) [@nightshadea](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nightshadea)\ **Post date:** [April 22, 2024, 4:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-the-most-accurate-figures-for-the-numbers-of-americans-drafted-and-conscripted-into-service-in-wwi-ive-looked-at-quite-a-number/1000572/5 "2024-04-22T04:31:48Z")
just as a thought, i wonder what the reaction would be if one day a law was passed saying women did have to sign up for selective service ---
**Author:** ![engineer\_comp\_geek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/engineer_comp_geek/32/504_2.png) [@engineer\_comp\_geek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/engineer_comp_geek)\ **Post date:** [April 22, 2024, 4:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-the-most-accurate-figures-for-the-numbers-of-americans-drafted-and-conscripted-into-service-in-wwi-ive-looked-at-quite-a-number/1000572/6 "2024-04-22T04:53:27Z")
Requiring women to register for selective service comes up every now and then. The most recent effort that I am aware of was in 2021. While some women are for it, the majority are not. Mr. Google thinks that as of 2021, 55 percent of men favor requiring women to register but only 36 percent of women are in favor of it. This is the cite that Google gives: [Support for drafting women to the military has decreased since 2016](https://www.ipsos.com/en-us/news-polls/military-draft-women-support-2021). ---
**Author:** ![engineer\_comp\_geek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/engineer_comp_geek/32/504_2.png) [@engineer\_comp\_geek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/engineer_comp_geek)\ **Post date:** [April 22, 2024, 5:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-the-most-accurate-figures-for-the-numbers-of-americans-drafted-and-conscripted-into-service-in-wwi-ive-looked-at-quite-a-number/1000572/7 "2024-04-22T05:09:11Z")
> [@Slithy\_Tove](#): > > hundreds of American women enlisted. Thousands, not hundreds. > **[Women in World War I](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Women_in_World_War_I)** > > Women in World War I were mobilized in unprecedented numbers on all sides. The vast majority of these women were drafted into the civilian work force to replace conscripted men or to work in greatly expanded munitions factories. Thousands served in the military in support roles, and in some countries many saw combat as well. > In a number of countries involved in the war, women became heroes for resistance work and espionage, work related to the medical profession, journalism and combat. Many of t... > [@](#): > > During the course of the war, 21,498 U.S. Army nurses (American military nurses were all women then) served in military hospitals in the United States and overseas. Many of these women were positioned near to battlefields, and they tended to over a million soldiers who had been wounded or were unwell. > [@](#): > > The first American women enlisted into the regular armed forces were 13,000 women admitted into active duty in the U.S. Navy during the war. They served stateside in jobs and received the same benefits and responsibilities as men, including identical pay (US$28.75 per month), and were treated as veterans after the war. > [@Slithy\_Tove](#): > > the Signal Corps had the “Hello Girls” at the switchboards Over 7,000 women applied to be Hello Girls, but only 450 were accepted. They wore Army uniforms and were subject to Army regulations, but were considered to be civilian employees. In 1978 (long after the war), Congress elevated their status to Army Veterans and gave them all honorable discharges for their service. ---
**Author:** ![Saint\_Cad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/saint_cad/32/18907_2.png) [@Saint\_Cad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Saint_Cad)\ **Post date:** [April 22, 2024, 5:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-the-most-accurate-figures-for-the-numbers-of-americans-drafted-and-conscripted-into-service-in-wwi-ive-looked-at-quite-a-number/1000572/8 "2024-04-22T17:26:14Z")
> [@Octagon](#): > > Thanks bump. The point about women is often forgotten. On Memorial Way at the University of Washington, there were planted 58 sycamore trees, one for each alumni that died in WW1 - 57 men, 1 woman.