This chapter examines the redefinition of “youth” that occurred during World War II as a result of young men’s conscription and the rise of the United States as the global superpower, as well as its consequences for young Americans. It specifically looks at the creation and implementation of federal educational programs for soldiers, such as the Army Specialized Training Program and the educational provisions of the 1944 G. I. Bill of Rights. The chapter also demonstrates how these programs built upon the framework that had been developed in earlier decades, which categorized youth according to their value for national security and established military service as a “democratic” educational opportunity.

This chapter explores how selective service laws for World War II both built on and changed the relationship between youth, education, and national security that had been developed in the preceding decades. Through nationwide debates over what made the disproportionate draft of young men aged eighteen to twenty-five as American and democratic, adults reinterpreted the characteristics of “youth” that had been deemed serious problems in the 1930s. That is, the lack of advanced work experience now indicated immediate availability for military service, unstable lifestyle meant mobility, and mental malleability now signified adaptability to military discipline. The supporters of the youth draft also formalized the link between military duty and education, advocating for the formation of military-educational training for young soldiers with military value as a democratic and American method of conscripting youth.