Never did a nation given to peace turn so quickly to war. Thousands of Americans in Europe had already been taking part for years. Some had joined the Canadian army or the Lafayette Squadron, part of the French air service. Others were working under the Red Cross or the American Committee for the Relief of Belgium.
Hoover as food administrator
Other measures necessary to "mobilize" the nation were quickly passed. The railroads were put under the control of a director-general of railroads, who ran them first of all in the service of the army. A fuel administrator decided what factories and businesses were most necessary in the war and in the life of the nation. Others had to limit their use of coal, or to close down entirely for a short time. Herbert Hoover, head of the great committee which had charge of feeding the starving people of Belgium, was made food administrator. On one hand, he decided how much food whole nations could buy of us. On the other, he helped American housewives plan their daily meals to save the wheat, meat, and fat that were needed for the soldiers, because food would "win the war."
An army of millions
238. The Selective Draft. Millions of soldiers would have been America's share of the Allied fighting forces if the war had gone on longer. Congress decided that a "Selective Draft" would be the most fair and just method of raising these millions. All men between the ages of twenty-one and thirty, and later between nineteen and forty-five, had to be examined by "Draft Boards," and the proper number selected.
Great training camps built
Immense training camps were built, with railroad lines, electric light and water systems, and all the needs of a modern city. Many of these camps sprang up in a few months, ready to take care of fifty thousand men apiece.
239. The War's Nameless Heroes. All these great preparations at home were more businesslike than they were stirring and warlike. They meant a great change in the life of the whole nation. Workers were shifted from all kinds of small, unimportant peace-time tasks to a few gigantic businesses on which the success of the war depended. All the efforts of the nation were centered on saving goods, time, and money, and producing goods to carry on the war.
Not a war of great names
The "home front" did not give great honors to those who held it. But the war was fought to preserve the rights of free citizens, and it had the nearly united support of a whole people. There are few famous names in the fighting abroad, and few, too, at home. It was a war in which the average man was the hero. He did not expect medals for doing his duty in battle, or a high salary for doing his duty at home. But he did it, and unbelievable deeds were accomplished—fleets built, factories multiplied, waste lands planted, two million men sent across the seas, and the war brought to a swift end.