In anticipation of Veterans Day on November 11, 2024, Blake Watson is providing six short stories from his recently published book, Kansas and Kansans in World War I: Service at Home and Abroad. The book along with other book selections (https://kansaspress.ku.edu/veterans-day-titles-from-upk/) are currently available for 30% off with free shipping* by entering code: 24VETERANS at checkout. *free shipping is for US addresses only*
KANSAS AND THE DRAFT
Over 9.6 million men registered for the draft on June 5, 1917. In Kansas, registrants appeared at 113 draft boards, one for each of the 105 counties, four for Kansas City, two for Topeka, and two for Wichita. In Leavenworth, 18 men who celebrated after signing up were charged with drunkenness and fined. The next step was a lottery, and on the 20th of July the Secretary of War selected a capsule containing the number 258 from a large glass bowl. As it turned out, only 108 Kansans held the number 258, because in five sparsely populated counties there were fewer than 258 registrants. Kansas was required to furnish 17,764 of the 687,000 men in the first draft (about 2.6%), but the number was reduced to less than 7,000 in light of credits awarded for men in the Regular Army or the National Guard. According to one account, the reduction for Kansas was proportionally the largest in the country.
Approximately 40 of the 113 Kansas registrants holding draft number 258 were inducted into the army. One of the first to be called, George Washington Gardner of Traer, earned the Distinguished Service Cross for his heroism on November 2, 1918. Two “number 258” draftees died on the battlefield: Lyndon’s Albert Beskow, and David Fawcett of Norcatur. Several others were gassed or wounded, including Herman Volkening of Belvue, who received a skull fracture when a bomb struck the railroad car transporting him to the front. He returned to Kansas, married Ida Laging of Wabaunsee, and died in 1977 at age 84, one year after his wife.
Some—but not all—drafted men were able to be excused from service. When Grace Shuck of Topeka learned her husband claimed to be the sole support of his wife and children, she signed an affidavit that stated he was only supporting himself.
NEXT: CAMP FUNSTON