1941.06.19 “There is a Real Fire”
by Lucius Curtis “Lute” Pease, Jr. (1869 -1963)
16 x 18 in., crayon and ink on board
Coppola Collection
Pease was a cartoonist for the Newark Evening News from 1914 to 1954, and received the 1949 Pulitzer Prize for Editorial Cartooning. He was a miner in Alaska for 5 years before beginning a career in art. He was an illustrator for the Oregonian and famously interviewed Mark Twain. From his retirement in 1954 until his death in 1963, he devoted himself to fostering his skills as a painter of portraits and landscapes.
Initial peacetime draft: Before the US formally entered WWII, the Selective Training and Service Act of 1940 instituted the first peacetime draft in US history. It initially required all men between 21 and 35 to register.
Pre-war Army size: In July 1939, the active Army had a strength of roughly 174,000, with most deployed within the continental US and others overseas.
Increasing military strength: After President Roosevelt declared a limited national emergency in September 1939, the strength of the Regular Army was raised to 227,000. The passage of the Selective Training and Service Act further authorized increasing the Army's strength to 1.4 million, including 500,000 Regulars, 270,000 Guardsmen, and 630,000 Selectees (draftees).
The draft began with the first registration on October 16, 1940, and the first men entered military service on November 18. By the early summer of 1941, President Franklin D. Roosevelt asked the U.S. Congress to extend the term of duty for the draftees beyond twelve months to a total of thirty months, plus any additional time that he might deem necessary for national security.
Nov 18, 20,000 called up
July 1, 1941second call – public postings ca June 19, 1941
