First draftees
November 28, 1940
And so it begins.
The following named men have been elected for induction by the following local board at Stanley. N. Dak., and shall report to this board at 8 a. m. on November 28,1940 whereupon they shall be sent to an Induction station of the United States Army at Fargo, N. Dak.
Order No.-9-Herbert Herman Anton1
Order No.-1246-Tom Eugene Watson2
A couple weeks later the Stanley Sun has a follow-up story on Anton and Watson.
They were expecting to serve for a year. I haven’t found their service records but they both survived the war
.
VAN HOOK BOYS LIKE ARMY LIFE
Herbert Herman Anton and Tom Eugene Watson, both of Van Hook are in the Army and like it fine. They made the Army without any trouble.
They took the examination in Fargo and proved to be in good health and are now soldiers of the United States Army. Herbert Anton is stationed in M. P. S. S. at Fort Snelling, Minnesota and Tom Watson is stationed at Fort Meade, South Dakota.
They both like their places fine and hope to be "New Men" when they come out at the end of a year. Herbert reports that it gets pretty cold down in that part of the country but hopes to get used to it before long. He reports that they will be training there for from 7 to 13 weeks and then they are going south.
Herbert H Anton 1919 – 2009
Thomas E Watson 1915 – 1975