The year 2020 has given us a lot to complain about. A global pandemic. Unstable economy. A contentious election.

Looking back 100 years, our ancestors didn’t have it any easier. They had their own pandemic, which claimed a member of Gary’s family. And just a few years later, another massive flu outbreak that took my father’s maternal grandfather.

One hundred years ago, the presidential election was between Warren G. Harding and James. M. Cox. Harding’s campaign message was a call for a “return to normalcy” from the horrors of World War I. He won by a landslide.

My father’s father had been honorably discharged from the Student Army Training Corps (SATC) program at Bates College in December 1918.

His hometown of Brewer, Maine, presented Grandpa with this framed document:

Grandpa signed up for the draft on September 12, 1918. Just two months later, the war was over.

Since he was enrolled at Bates College, Grandpa was allowed to continue his studies, along with SATC training. This program originated earlier in 1918 at 157 colleges and universities across America, all of which could provide at least 100 “able-bodied men of military age” to train for war. Grandpa was 19 years old.

The war ended before the training did, thankfully.

Grandpa kept his uniform. One day his namesake would wear it.

The year was 1942. Grandpa was married and was father to five children. They lived in Lowell, Massachusetts.

There was another world war. And another call to register.

Although Grandpa was now 43 years old, he again qualified for the draft.

Congress had passed a new Selective Service Act, requiring all men between the ages of 18 and 64 to register. Those 45 and older signed up for the Old Man’s Draft. Grandpa was 43; he signed a Young Man’s Draft card.

This time around, Grandpa also involved his oldest son. Dad had just turned 12; he trained to be a “messenger.”

The sixth grader was part of the US Citizens Defense Corp:

The best part, Dad recalls, was wearing his father’s uniform from World War I.

“I wore it out. Boy, was it itchy.”

Dad wore the wool blouse and knickers; he was eager to serve. The call never came, but the messenger was ready.

Grandpa, meanwhile, served as an airplane spotter. Lowell is located near the New England coastline and his duty was to observe the skies for enemy aircraft. Thankfully, that attack did not come.

As another Veterans’ Day approaches, Dad remembers those duty-bound times:

“In those days, we pulled together. Everyone in the country played their part.”

Just 10 years later, Dad again donned a military uniform. This time, he was newlywed, and his destination was Korea. Thank you to him and to all the brave veterans who selflessly served our country.

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