Nov. 19 and 26, 1940, marriage, the draft, America attacked, and Selective Service

In Johnnie’s November 19, 1940 postcard to Lucile, postmarked in Atlanta, you begin to see his sense of humor.

Dear Darling,

Just a little note on this card to let you know I feeling I have you, but can’t reach you, Ha Ha. But putting all jokes aside, I hope this finds you well and happy as I am. Darling I will be down Wed nite if possible. But I sure will be down Thursday afternoon, about one or two o’clock. So, break all your dates and stay home. As you know by now, I am boss. So, this in an order so obeying with Lots of Love. 

Johnnie

That postcard was followed by a letter Johnnie wrote from Atlanta on November 26, 1940 in which he expressed concerns of losing Lucile to another boy while he is away during his military training.

Dear Darling, 

I guess you think something has happened to me writing you a card and following it up with a letter, but I just can’t help it because every time I get to thinking about you, I want you with me more and more every day and always. Darling I am afraid when I am on that year military training that you will meet some other boy, and that your love or care for me will die. And that’s just about what I would do if I lost out with you. So, lots of love. 

Always, Johnnie x x x x 

Approximately one and a half years after meeting his darling Lucile, they were married in a simple ceremony by the Justice of the Peace in Jonesboro, Clayton County, Georgia on December 27, 1940.

Six months later, Johnnie registered for the World War II draft in College Park on July 1, 1941. He was 21 years old at the time and lived at R.F.D. #1 there in College Park. Johnnie listed his father, J. H. Marston living at 487 Forrest Road NE in Atlanta, as the person who would always know his address. Johnnie was still working as a stock clerk at the F. H. Jackson Dental Supply Company located in the Mortgage Guarantee Building in Atlanta. His employer was Mrs. Leila C. Jackson. Johnnie described himself as being 5’ 8 ½” tall, weighing 135 pounds, and having a ruddy complexion, brown eyes and hair. His registration card noted that he had a scar on his right cheek under the eye. 

Johnnie's World War II Registration Card

As we all know, the attack on Pearl Harbor took place on December 7, 1941—a day that changed America and the world forever. Like many others, Johnnie and Lucile probably listened to the radio as President Franklin Delano Roosevelt gave his “Day of Infamy” speech to congress the next day. 

Attack on Pearl Harbor (photo taken from a Japanese plane; public domain)

USS West Virgina after the attack (U.S. Navy, Office of Public Relations, public domain, via Wikimedia Commons) 

At some point, Johnnie received a 3-A classification in which he was deferred for dependency reasons. On February 26, 1942, he received a letter from the Selective Service System notifying him that his “present classification of 3-A will be reconsidered by this Board on Wednesday, Mar. 4, 1942 at 2:00 p.m.” The Selective Service System must have determined that Johnnie was no longer eligible for deferment.

Notice of 3-A classification hearing from the Selective Service System (click to enlarge)