National Service Call UP Papers 1952

[ssgross]

My grandmother wouldn't give me my Grandfather's WW2 medical

my grandmother was the youngest of 6 kids and had 5 much older brothers. One of her brothers was not able to be drafted for medical reasons. I vaguely recall the story she told me when I was pretty young that he lived in self-isolated self-inflicted shame until he died young from colon cancer. People took being declared "unfit" to share the burden of their country very seriously by her generation. I'm perplexed at the contrast between grandma's generation, and the rampant draft dodgers amongst their offspring during Vietnam.
I haven't seen anyone write about it, but I saw first hand shortly after Sept. 11, 2001 that the problem still persisted. There were many active duty persons who just up and quit and went home at the news there was a fight coming or we were deploying...they only signed up for the college money. Is it that these things happened more rarely during WW2? Or that it's hushed and forgotten because it doesn't meet the mantra of "the greatest generation"? I think the former is true and not the latter. The willingness of SO MANY to sacrifice SO MUCH is part of the historical record, and in stark contrast to the reality of the present, where SO FEW are willing to serve at all, let alone sacrifice anything, and especially so amongst our so called "elite" citizenry.
That's my rant for the day anyway. Thanks for sharing your documents.

If my father had just ignored the call up papers below he would have been arrested by the police and sent to prison.

Would the same thing have happened if he refused vaccination? Kidding....mostly