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My uncle lied about his age to join the Army during the Korean War. He was 16 I believe.
My dad lied and joined the Navy at 16, during the Korean War. He said it was safer than waiting to be drafted
My grandfather supposedly did the "Yes, I am over 18" (stepping a piece of paper with 18 on it) trick after Pearl Harbor. I guess it was probably pretty common for kids who were borderline old enough to serve.
> In April 1862 it adopted a policy of universal conscription, and in February 1864 it lowered the age of mandatory service from eighteen to seventeen. Additionally, some Confederate states enrolled boys as young as sixteen for service in state-controlled units. In the UK in 2023 it is still possible to join the military when you're 16 years old, and you can start your application when 5 months before that. No other…
> In April 1862 it adopted a policy of universal conscription, and in February 1864 it lowered the age of mandatory service from eighteen to seventeen. Additionally, some Confederate states enrolled boys as young as sixteen for service in state-controlled units. In the UK in 2023 it is still possible to join the military when you're 16 years old, and you can start your application when 5 months before that. No other…
> In April 1862 it adopted a policy of universal conscription, and in February 1864 it lowered the age of mandatory service from eighteen to seventeen. Additionally, some Confederate states enrolled boys as young as sixteen for service in state-controlled units. In the UK in 2023 it is still possible to join the military when you're 16 years old, and you can start your application when 5 months before that. No other…
> No other country in Europe recruits child soldiers Are these 16 year old actually fighting? Or are they placed in support roles, i.e. it's basically a job, but under the structure of the military?
But once they turn 18 they can be ordered into combat based on a decision they made when they were still a child.
Recruits can leave up to the end of their first six months of service. After that they are committed until they are 22.
My uncle lied about his age to join the Army during the Korean War. He was 16 I believe.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
"Child soldiers" is dramatic. I don't see a problem with a 16 year old joining the military, with the support of their parents, esp. if they don't have an interest in college. They could learn some valuable skills, certainly more than you'd learn in public education.
I could see letting them join an academy early, but you can't send them to fight before 18 and you should give them a chance to back out when they actually turn 18.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
My dad lied and joined the Navy at 16, during the Korean War. He said it was safer than waiting to be drafted
One of my grandfathers joined the Navy before Pearl Harbor (Wikipedia says the draft started in 1940, so in '40 or '41) to avoid getting drafted into the Army. Not sure why he thought boats were safer, but I guess he lived, so he was right. :-)
> Total U.S. military deaths in battle and from other causes were 407,316. The breakout by service is as follows: Army 318,274 (234,874 battle, 83,400 nonbattle),[292] Navy 62,614,[292] Marine Corps 24,511,[292] and the Coast Guard 1,917.[570][320]
I don't know what the denominator looks like for those various forces, but 5x as many Army deaths as Navy seems to corroborate your grandfather's intuition.
[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World_War_II_casualties#endnot...
Edit: From [2] it seems the Army was a bit over 2x the size of the Navy, so still about 2x the rate of deaths.
[2] https://warfarehistorynetwork.com/us-involvement-in-wwii-how...