As of the most recent data available, there are just 45,418 living American veterans of World War II, according to the most recent data from the Department of Veterans Affairs. By 2036, it's projected that only around 300 will still be with us. Over 16 million people served in the Armed Forces during the war, meaning fewer than 1% are alive today. World War II is estimated to have taken the lives of 30-65 million people; to this date, the exact number of casualties remains unknown.
In September 1940, Congress sanctioned the Selective Training and Service Act, the first peacetime draft law in the nation's history. By then, most of Europe had been at war for a year. The legislation—the Burke-Wadsworth Act—required men ages 21 to 45 to sign up for conscription. If inducted, they were appointed to serve for one year. However, when the United States officially entered the war, conscription limits were removed, and service ran through the war's end.
Draftees' age was also lowered to 18 as the war developed, a change that ignited protests and a public campaign demanding that the government lower the statutory age to vote. (Decades later, amidst the Vietnam War, this would prove to be the premise for the 26th Amendment, ratified in 1971.)
Over 36.5 million draft cards were issued when the U.S. fought in World War II; 10.1 million men were inducted between 1940 and 1946, representing about 7.6% of the national population, according to estimates from the 1940 census. They joined 6 million volunteers in combat.
These days, of course, the draft is a distant memory for most, having ended in 1973. But in recognition of those who served, Stacker analyzed data quantifying draft numbers during World War II from multiple sources, including historical Census data, a report issued by the Selective Service System, and a WWII draft card project provided by Ancestry.com in association with the National Archives and Records Administration. Maine's Draft card data was unavailable; their draft cards were destroyed before being digitized. The number of inductees ranks states, territories, and Washington, D.C. as a percentage of the total state population as estimated from the 1940 census.
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1 / 51- Number of men drafted: 3,564 (4.91% of the territory population)
- Total number of Draft Cards issued: 22,518
--- 15.83% of draft cards called
Note: Alaska was a U.S. territory during WWII and became a state in 1959.
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2 / 51- Number of men drafted: 21,456 (5.97% of the state population)
- Total number of Draft Cards issued: 86,651
--- 24.76% of draft cards called
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3 / 51- Number of men drafted: 154,603 (6.09% of the state population)
- Total number of Draft Cards issued: 621,426
--- 24.88% of draft cards called
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4 / 51- Number of men drafted: 39,707 (6.18% of the state population)
- Total number of Draft Cards issued: 151,055
--- 26.29% of draft cards called
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5 / 51- Number of men drafted: 39,895 (6.21% of the state population)
- Total number of Draft Cards issued: 380,297
--- 10.49% of draft cards called
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6 / 51- Number of men drafted: 82,735 (6.29% of the state population)
- Total number of Draft Cards issued: 324,606
--- 25.49% of draft cards called
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7 / 51- Number of men drafted: 203,235 (6.48% of the state population)
- Total number of Draft Cards issued: 777,714
--- 26.13% of draft cards called
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8 / 51- Number of men drafted: 151,883 (6.50% of the state population)
- Total number of Draft Cards issued: 580,191
--- 26.18% of draft cards called
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9 / 51- Number of men drafted: 113,451 (6.53% of the state population)
- Total number of Draft Cards issued: 476,971
--- 23.79% of draft cards called
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10 / 51- Number of men drafted: 73,786 (6.57% of the state population)
- Total number of Draft Cards issued: 284,881
--- 25.90% of draft cards called
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11 / 51- Number of men drafted: 72,800 (6.68% of the state population)
- Total number of Draft Cards issued: 294,538
--- 24.72% of draft cards called
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12 / 51- Number of men drafted: 32,920 (6.70% of the state population)
- Total number of Draft Cards issued: 123,730
--- 26.61% of draft cards called
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13 / 51- Number of men drafted: 209,589 (6.71% of the state population)
- Total number of Draft Cards issued: 845,405
--- 24.79% of draft cards called
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14 / 51- Number of men drafted: 292,439 (6.77% of the state population)
- Total number of Draft Cards issued: 1,056,985
--- 27.67% of draft cards called
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15 / 51- Number of men drafted: 122,470 (6.80% of the state population)
- Total number of Draft Cards issued: 428,140
--- 28.61% of draft cards called
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16 / 51- Number of men drafted: 438,232 (6.83% of the state population)
- Total number of Draft Cards issued: 2,225,880
--- 19.69% of draft cards called
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17 / 51- Number of men drafted: 191,238 (6.85% of the state population)
- Total number of Draft Cards issued: 697,360
--- 27.42% of draft cards called
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18 / 51- Number of men drafted: 17,254 (6.88% of the state population)
- Total number of Draft Cards issued: 66,540
--- 25.93% of draft cards called
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19 / 51- Number of men drafted: 38,820 (6.94% of the state population)
- Total number of Draft Cards issued: 144,604
--- 26.85% of draft cards called
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20 / 51- Number of men drafted: 59,815 (7.06% of the state population)
- Draft card data not available
Sean Pavone // Shutterstock
21 / 51- Number of men drafted: 272,180 (7.19% of the state population)
- Total number of Draft Cards issued: 956,325
--- 28.46% of draft cards called
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22 / 51- Number of men drafted: 500,920 (7.25% of the state population)
- Total number of Draft Cards issued: 2,094,031
--- 23.92% of draft cards called
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23 / 51- Number of men drafted: 137,969 (7.26% of the state population)
- Total number of Draft Cards issued: 501,839
--- 27.49% of draft cards called
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24 / 51- Number of men drafted: 138,619 (7.31% of the state population)
- Total number of Draft Cards issued: 545,128
--- 25.43% of draft cards called
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25 / 51- Number of men drafted: 262,942 (7.36% of the state population)
- Total number of Draft Cards issued: 1,483,473
--- 17.72% of draft cards called
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26 / 51- Number of men drafted: 143,682 (7.37% of the state population)
- Total number of Draft Cards issued: 395,488
--- 36.33% of draft cards called
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27 / 51- Number of men drafted: 210,599 (7.43% of the state population)
- Total number of Draft Cards issued: 764,045
--- 27.56% of draft cards called
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28 / 51- Number of men drafted: 41,061 (7.46% of the state population)
- Total number of Draft Cards issued: 145,410
--- 28.24% of draft cards called
Ramunas Bruzas // Shutterstock
29 / 51- Number of men drafted: 53,235 (7.46% of the state population)
- Total number of Draft Cards issued: 186,940
--- 28.48% of draft cards called
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30 / 51- Number of men drafted: 39,220 (7.47% of the state population)
- Total number of Draft Cards issued: 139,652
--- 28.08% of draft cards called
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31 / 51- Number of men drafted: 39,944 (7.51% of the state population)
- Total number of Draft Cards issued: 141,042
--- 28.32% of draft cards called
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32 / 51- Number of men drafted: 31,899 (7.54% of the territory population)
- Total number of Draft Cards issued: 139,178
--- 22.92% of draft cards called
Note: Hawaii was a U.S. territory during WWII and became a state in 1959.
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33 / 51- Number of men drafted: 179,029 (7.57% of the state population)
- Total number of Draft Cards issued: 649,825
--- 27.55% of draft cards called
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34 / 51- Number of men drafted: 261,079 (7.62% of the state population)
- Total number of Draft Cards issued: 904,608
--- 28.86% of draft cards called
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35 / 51- Number of men drafted: 220,619 (7.75% of the state population)
- Total number of Draft Cards issued: 738,534
--- 29.87% of draft cards called
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36 / 51- Number of men drafted: 39,069 (7.83% of the state population)
- Total number of Draft Cards issued: 141,706
--- 27.57% of draft cards called
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37 / 51- Number of men drafted: 172,136 (7.88% of the state population)
- Total number of Draft Cards issued: 564,513
--- 30.49% of draft cards called
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38 / 51- Number of men drafted: 629,516 (7.97% of the state population)
- Total number of Draft Cards issued: 2,124,699
--- 29.63% of draft cards called
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39 / 51- Number of men drafted: 233,993 (8.02% of the state population)
- Total number of Draft Cards issued: 764,556
--- 30.61% of draft cards called
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40 / 51- Number of men drafted: 216,060 (8.07% of the state population)
- Total number of Draft Cards issued: 768,847
--- 28.10% of draft cards called
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41 / 51- Number of men drafted: 424,335 (8.07% of the state population)
- Total number of Draft Cards issued: 1,462,490
--- 29.01% of draft cards called
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42 / 51- Number of men drafted: 139,629 (8.17% of the state population)
- Total number of Draft Cards issued: 488,632
--- 28.58% of draft cards called
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43 / 51- Number of men drafted: 1,108,799 (8.23% of the state population)
- Total number of Draft Cards issued: 3,802,625
--- 29.16% of draft cards called
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44 / 51- Number of men drafted: 345,236 (8.30% of the state population)
- Total number of Draft Cards issued: 1,168,325
--- 29.55% of draft cards called
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45 / 51- Number of men drafted: 158,533 (8.34% of the state population)
- Total number of Draft Cards issued: 524,336
--- 30.24% of draft cards called
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46 / 51- Number of men drafted: 576,622 (8.35% of the state population)
- Total number of Draft Cards issued: 1,790,654
--- 32.20% of draft cards called
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47 / 51- Number of men drafted: 22,330 (8.38% of the state population)
- Total number of Draft Cards issued: 74,649
--- 29.91% of draft cards called
Real Window Creative // Shutterstock
48 / 51- Number of men drafted: 158,121 (8.68% of the state population)
- Total number of Draft Cards issued: 536,962
--- 29.45% of draft cards called
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49 / 51- Number of men drafted: 866,264 (8.75% of the state population)
- Total number of Draft Cards issued: 2,660,878
--- 32.56% of draft cards called
Jacob Boomsma // Shutterstock
50 / 51- Number of men drafted: 10,289 (9.33% of the state population)
- Total number of Draft Cards issued: 36,348
--- 28.31% of draft cards called
Orhan Cam // Shutterstock
51 / 51- Number of men drafted: 64,243 (9.69% of population)
- Total number of Draft Cards issued: 212,943
--- 30.17% of draft cards called
Note: Washington D.C. is not a U.S. state, but was included for purposes of comparison.
Data reporting by Sam Larson. Story editing by Brian Budzynski. Copy editing by Tim Bruns. Photo selection by Elizabeth Ciano.
