The First Call to the Colors
As the United States prepares its first massive mobilization for World War I, local boards receive final instructions for shipping the region's men to training camps.
The story, cleaned up
A cleaned-up reading of the newspaper page: spelling and layout repaired, one story lifted off a crowded page. It follows the original closely but it is not a transcription. The original page is below; read it if a detail matters.
America’s first mobilization of her citizen manhood for war will begin within ten days. War department officials Sunday detailed at length each step in the vast process which will bring 687,000 men to the colors before it is complete. The first move will be made early this week. Each of the approximately 4500 local boards will notify 5 per cent of its quota to present themselves Monday, September 3, or Tuesday, September 4, for military service. The men thus called will be selected from among the quota called in the first draft because of their special qualifications through previous military service or their ability to cook. In accordance with instructions, they will present themselves at the office of the local board of their district. There they will get instructions when and where to appear for transportation to the mobilization camp to which men from their locality are assigned. In addition they will be handed railroad tickets and meal tickets. They will travel in day coaches, as the mobilization camps are so located that there will be long hauls. All the boards have to do is to instruct the men what train to take and give them their tickets. A representative of the board will be at the station to see that the men ordered out report and are entrained. If a man fails to respond a military guard will be sent after him and he will be arrested as a deserter. The men will be permitted to take with them extra underwear, tooth brush, tooth paste, comb and brush and fresh handkerchiefs. They will not be allowed to have any more baggage; they may bring no food with them.
“If a man fails to respond a military guard will be sent after him and he will be arrested as a deserter.”
This piece documents the administrative machinery of the 1917 draft, a process that would radically disrupt daily life in small towns like Kennewick. It serves as a reminder of how quickly civic life can be redirected by federal mandate during wartime, a theme of sudden, bureaucratic upheaval that still resonates in local governance.
From readers
No comments yet. If you know something about this story — a correction, a family memory, a source — it belongs here.