City Attorney Campaigns for Local Artillery Battalion
Kennewick’s City Attorney F.R. Jeffrey is trading the courtroom for the field, urging young men to enlist in the National Guard before the draft forces their hand.
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.
City Attorney F.R. Jeffrey has been commissioned as a first lieutenant in the Field Artillery of the Washington National Guard. Tasked with recruiting in Yakima, Benton, and Franklin counties, Jeffrey is building a battery to be stationed at the former fort in Walla Walla. He argues that enlisting now offers men a choice of service, avoiding the 'conscript army' where assignments are made by officials. 'The field artillery is undoubtedly the pick of the land service,' Jeffrey stated, noting that men who enlist can continue their current vocations until the camp is fully organized in September.
“If a man enlists now he knows that he will serve in the field artillery, while if he waits to be drafted he will have no choice but will have to go into any branch of the service in which the draft officials assign him.”
This highlights the 'last call' recruitment efforts common before draft orders were fully finalized. The preference for choosing one's branch of service over the lottery system reflects a very human attempt to gain agency in the face of total war.
From readers
No comments yet. If you know something about this story — a correction, a family memory, a source — it belongs here.