What criteria, if any, regarding a man's age or the number of his dependents did the United States have when drafting men into the army? How old was too old? How many children was too many?

Out of the Foxholes Questions
1

What criteria, if any, regarding a man’s age or the number of his dependents did the United States have when drafting men into the army? How old was too old? How many children was too many?

I ask because I ran across a March 6, 1945, story in the Chicago Tribune (page 6) about the death in France of a 32 year-old private who had five children. The man had been drafted the previous July, either at age 31 or 32, and was killed in action February 2, less than a month after being shipped overseas.

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Single younger men were preferred in the initial draft and then would expand the criteria as casualties stacked up. If you were older and had dependents you would be further down the call up list.

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