Jack Sullivan Took the Risk to Enlist Before Being Drafted

On 6 April 1917, the United States declared war on Germany and thus entered the war that had been going on since 1914.[1] On 18 May 1917, the Selective Service Act of 1917 was enacted, with the first draft registration conducted on 5 June 1917.[2]

My great uncle, Jack Sullivan, might have seen the headline in the Butte Miner or some other newspaper. I am not sure where he was living since 1912. After his mother’s death, he moved to Portland, perhaps to live with his grandparents, John and Margaret Gleeson.[3]

However, Jack sent a letter to his sister, Nellie Goe, saying he had enlisted in the engineering corps at Vancouver, Washington. He stated he “enjoys the new life and that he feels pretty much at home, as there are six other Anaconda boys located in the same barracks.”[4]

Looking at his Veterans Affairs Master Index card, created after the war, listed his enlistment date as 4 June 1917.[5] This was the day before the draft registration. Since he had enlisted in the Army, he has no draft card. The VAMI card also named his unit, the 4th Engineers, Company E.

He trained first at Vancouver Barracks, then at Camp Greene, before being shipped overseas to France on 29 April 1918 with the 4th Engineers in the Fourth Division.[6] He returned with the unit on 29 Jul 1919.[7]

#52Ancestors: Week 46 – “An Ancestor Who Took a Risk”
This is my ninth year working on this year-long prompt, hosted by Amy Johnson Crow (https://www.amyjohnsoncrow.com/) at Generations Cafe. I write each week in one of my two blogs, either Mam-ma’s Southern Family or My Trails into the Past. I have enjoyed writing about my children’s ancestors in new and exciting ways.

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[1] “U.S. is at War with Germany,” The Butte Miner, 6 Apr 1917, p. 1, col. 1.

[2] Statutes at Large, 40 St. 76, Chapter 15. For draft, see “World War I Draft Registration Cards,” National Archives (https://www.archives.gov/research/military/ww1/draft-registration : accessed 11 Nov 2026).

[3] Polk's Anaconda (Deer Lodge County, Mont) City Directory (R.L. Polk & Co, 1912), p 248, Cyril Sullivan; imaged, Ancestry (https://www.ancestry.com/imageviewer/collections/2469/images/16090847 : accessed 11 Nov 2026) > Montana > Anaconda > 1912 > Anaconda, Montana, City Directory, 1912 > image 125 of 168.

[4] “Anaconda Well Represented,” Anaconda Standard, 16 June 1917, p. 4, col. 3.

[5] “Veterans Affair Master Index card, Jack Cyril Sullivan, serial no. 568 973; imaged, FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:3Q9M-C3MH-J7SY-5 : accessed 11 Nov 2026), IGN 105306936, image 227 of 6005; RG 15, National Archives, Washington, DC.

[6] "U.S. Army Transport Service, Passenger List," database & images, Ancestry (https://www.ancestry.com/search/collections/61174/), Martha Washington, Hoboken, NJ, no. 13, Jack C Sullivan, 568973, 30 Apr 1918.

[7] "U.S. Army Transport Service, Passenger List," database & images, Ancestry (https://www.ancestry.com/search/collections/61174/), Von Steuben, Brest, France, no. 16, Jack C. Sullivan, 568973, 21 Jul 1919. 

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