story City IN WWI - 100 Years Ago Today - July 20, 1917

Secretary of War Newton D. Baker, blindfolded, drew the first draft number in the lottery to be called up: Number 258.

On July 20, 1917 the first draft numbers were drawn at the Senate Office Building in Washington, DC. Here in Iowa, Story and Hamilton counties were 2 out of 3 counties in the entire state that had already sent more than their full quota of men. None of the registered men in the Story-Hamilton county area had to enter the army at this time. They would be called later as needed. Below is an article from the July 26, 1917 edition of the Herald that describes how the draft lottery went in this area.

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