Non-voluntary deferments in WWII?
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If you're referring specifically to deferments related to the Manhattan Project, this document is a fascinating read. It is apparently in response to arguments made in favor of giving technicians deferments based on security grounds, and instead argues that the hazards associated with the project put it in line with military service and forms a separate basis for granting deferrals. This might be a fruitful start for more research.
Also, the oral histories on the Voices of the Manhattan Project site contain several references to the draft.
If you are looking for more general information, this link contains documentation around the deferrals granted to members of the merchant marine as being essential workers, and quite a few farmers were given occupational referrals as well.
Upvote:3
I have a friend whose father worked on the Manhattan Project.
Scientists (and other workers) for secret projects such as the Manhattan Project were recruited by higher ups, through reputation, or word of mouth. They didn't just "volunteer," because they weren't told what these projects were, or what the needed qualifications were; only the higher ups knew that.
Once on, only a handful of the most connected and knowledgeable people knew what the Manhattan Project was about. While it was mainly voluntary, most people were induced to join by being told, "This project is important enough to the war effort to keep you out of the armed forces." Mathematicians were told which calculations to make; "technicians" were told how to manufacture uranium without being told why, etc. Basically, the different elements of the project were kept as "separate" as possible, with people being told things only on a "need to know" basis.
Most people involved probably knew something about "radioactivity," which had been discovered by Marie Curie as early as 1903. Perhaps some of them thought they were manufacturing an X-ray gun, or maybe the equivalent of World War I's poison gas, shot out of special cannon. Practically no one could conceive of putting all that nuclear power into a handful of bombs capable of destroying a whole city.
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