These draft registration cards are full of genealogy information, including name, dates and places of birth, citizenship status, residence, marital status, race, dependents, previous military service, and even a brief physical description. Where else can you find such information as baldness? Or color of hair and eyes? You can find that as well as height and weight on these draft cards.

Uncle, We Are Ready! apparently is the first book-length study of the World War II draft registration process including a detailed history and explanation of the draft, as well as a complete series of research sources available. The book is divided into two sections:

Part I is a study of the draft registration process: who registered and the procedures involved. It analyzes the information found on the registration cards, provides a strategy for evaluating data quality, and discusses in detail those who registered, including aliens, Native Americans, African Americans, Chinese Americans, Japanese Americans, and Mexican Americans. It offers a methodology to examine contemporary sources like newspapers, city directories and maps, to provide a strategy for locating your ancestors.

Part II supplies statistics and the National Archives and Family History Library film numbers for every local draft board, incorporating the filming breaks for divisions of names.

The book also includes a fully searchable CD-ROM disk, providing reference support with an additional 214 pages of maps, newspaper copies, draft board lists, lottery numbers, and population estimates. This CD is not a simple electronic copy of the book. Instead, it includes the National Archives draft registration maps and sections of the published reports of the Provost Marshal General, giving local board numbers and their addresses, as well as other maps and research tools. Best of all, this CD-ROM works on both Windows and Macintosh systems.

Uncle, We Are Ready! Registering America’s Men 1917-1918 is an excellent reference book that gives detailed information about using an often-overlooked genealogy resource. This 278-page soft cover book has a list price of $29.95 and can be purchased at most bookstores if you ask for ISBN number 0944931634. You can also order it online at Heritage Quest’s secure Web site.