My family member, Edward E. Mitchell, enlisted in the US Army on 12 July 1943 at Little Rock, Arkansas. My question was why his height and weight were listed as 43 and 386 respectively on the WWII enlistment records on Ancestry.com. I thought it was metric but it doesn't convert to a believable number using Kilograms and Centimeters and have never heard if they were using metric measurements in WWII. He enlisted when he was 18 and was killed on Okinawa 13 April 1945. I have heard that an only son, as he was, was exempt from service. Was that an official policy ? Was it exempt from the draft but they could still enlist on a voluntary basis ? Thanks good folks. EJG
I think the most likely explanation is that those two items were errors, either on his original document or in the transcription by Ancestry.com. Some other entries there have no height and weight, others have what appear to be legitimate entries. Best wishes, David ddorsey@mindspring.com ----- Original Message ----- From: "GUTSCHKE ROGER" <Ejaygee@msn.com> To: <WORLDWAR2-L@rootsweb.com> Sent: Sunday, March 26, 2006 10:01 PM Subject: [WORLD WAR II] More info on the Ht. and Wt. query > > My family member, Edward E. Mitchell, enlisted in the US Army on 12 July > 1943 at Little Rock, Arkansas. My question was why his height and weight > were listed as 43 and 386 respectively on the WWII enlistment records on > Ancestry.com. I thought it was metric but it doesn't convert to a > believable number using Kilograms and Centimeters and have never heard if > they were using metric measurements in WWII. He enlisted when he was 18 > and was killed on Okinawa 13 April 1945. I have heard that an only son, as > he was, was exempt from service. Was that an official policy ? Was it > exempt from the draft but they could still enlist on a voluntary basis ? > Thanks good folks. > EJG > > > ==== WORLDWAR2 Mailing List ==== > We are an international list! Please, always tell the list what country > your ancestor is from. This helps all of us, especially you! If you give > dates please help us understand the date you are referring to. For > example: 4 Nov 1944 or Nov 4, 1944. > > ============================== > New! Family Tree Maker 2005. Build your tree and search for your ancestors > at the same time. Share your tree with family and friends. Learn more: > http://landing.ancestry.com/familytreemaker/2005/tour.aspx?sourceid=14599&targetid=5429 > >