World War II Draft Registration Card for Michael Danko

My grandfather, Michael Danko, registered for the World War II draft in the fourth registration conducted in 1942.

The fourth registration, also known as the old man’s registration, was officially conducted on 27 April 1942 . All men born on or between 28 April 1877 and 16 February 1897 (between 45 and 64 years old) were required to register.

World War II Draft Registration Card for Michael Danko of Worcester Massachusetts - Front

WWII Draft Registration Card – Michael Danko – Front

World War II Draft Registration Card for Michael Danko of Worcester Massachusetts - Back

WWII Draft Registration Card – Michael Danko – Back

SOURCE: “U.S. World War II Draft Registration Cards, 1942,” digital images, Ancestry.com (http://www.ancestry.com : accessed 11 November 2007), Michael Danko, serial no. U3085, order no. not stated, Draft Board 166, Worcester, Worcester County, Massachusetts; citing Selective Service Registration Cards, World War II: Fourth Registration, NARA microfilm publication M2090, roll 36.

Click on the link for a PDF copy of the World War II Draft Registration Card for Michael Danko. This card provides the following information:

    • Michael Danko of 15 Henchman St. Worcester, Worcester, Mass. was registered on 26 April 1942 by Ellen M. Gilligan, Registrar for Local Board #166 Worcester, Mass.
    • His Serial Number was U3085; no Order Number was provided
    • His mailing address was the same as his place of residence
    • He had no telephone
    • He was 64 yrs old and was born on 22 Sept. 1877
    • He was born in Nienadrwa (sic) Poland
    • The person who would always know is address was Mrs Mary Danko, 15 Henchman St. Worcester, Mass.
    • He was unemployed
    • He was of the White Race; he was 5 ft 8″ tall and 140′
    • He had Blue Eyes, Brown Hair, and Light Complexion
    • He wore glasses

Although the registration was officially conducted on 27 April 1942, my grandfather registered on the 26th of April. His place of birth is listed as Nienadrwa, Poland. The name of the village is misspelled and the name of the country where he was born is technically incorrect. The correct spelling of the village is Nienadowa . Grandfather was born in 1877 in Galicia (Austria) which, in 1942, was indeed Poland.

My grandfather did not serve in World War II, but three of his four sons did. His son Michael Jr. served as a Shipfitter First Class in the US Navy, his son Joseph served as a Sergeant in the US Army, and his son Francis served as a Seaman First Class in the US Naval Armed Guard. All three sons survived the war.

Copyright © 2007 by Stephen J. Danko

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3 Responses to World War II Draft Registration Card for Michael Danko

  1. Hi!
    This is very interesting and I love the old papers! Very cool! 🙂
    Cindy
    http://www.adayinthelifeofcindy.blogspot.com

  2. Lori Boyle says:

    I just found your site. Do you now know that Ancestry.com scanned the draft cards incorrectly. The info on the back of the card is not your relative’s info – it belongs to the person in previous card. They’ve had over 2 yrs to correct their mistake and haven’t done it.

  3. Steve says:

    Hi Lori,

    Thanks for your comment. In truth, Ancestry scanned the draft cards correctly.
    The National Archives microfilmed the records for the states of DE, MD, PA, and WV in such a way that each image includes the front of one person’s card and the back of someone else’s card. By doing this, the National Archives only had to take half as many pictures as they would have had to take if they photographed the fronts and backs separately. When the cards were microfilmed, the National Archives had no idea the film would later be digitized and made available on the Internet. As it turns out, the problem only exists because the microfilms were digitized. You really don’t notice any problem if you look at the actual microfilms.
    The fronts and backs of the cards for the other states were microfilmed as separate images, and so the problem only applies to the cards from DE, MD, PA, and WV.
    In order for Ancestry to fix the problem, they will have to photoedit each image and split each picture into two separate images. It will be a lot of work to fix someone else’s mistake, so I’m not surprised they haven’t finished this project to fix this problem inadvertantly created by the National Archives’ microfilming technique.

    Steve

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