As the summer of 1917 was beginning to wind down, American preparations for war were gearing up. Camp Dix in Wrightstown, N.J., was preparing to accept and train a large part of the million-man army President Woodrow Wilson had vowed to send to fight in the trenches of France to make “the world safe for democracy.” Meanwhile, young men in New Jersey and across the nation awaited news from their local draft boards to learn if they would be answering the president’s call.
On Aug. 6, draft boards received a directive that would be used to pressure men to report.
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