Citizen Soldiers - Army National Guard and Reserve in World War II

The US Military Reserve and National Guard were a major part of the forces in World War II. They were mobilized a year before Pearl Harbor - it had become likely that we would be in the war, and the National Guard and Reserve doubled the size of the US Army.

Army Reserve

"Almost one of every four Army officers -- more than 200,000 of the 900,000 Army officers during the war -- was an Army Reservist. Two wartime studies give an indication of how important the Reserve contribution was to the Army. A 1944 War Department study in one Regular Army infantry division found that 62.5 percent of the battalion commanders, 84.5 percent of the company commanders and 30.3 percent of the platoon leaders were reservists. Another survey noted that between Sept. 1, 1943, and May 31, 1944, 52.4 percent of the Army officers killed in action and 27.7 percent of those missing in action came from the Organized Reserve.

The Army Reservists of World War II included men like Brig. Gen. Theodore Roosevelt Jr. He was the first general to land on a Normandy beach on D-Day and received the Medal of Honor for his actions that day. Lt. Col. Jimmy Doolittle led the first raid to strike back against Japan and also received the Medal of Honor. Lt. Col. Strom Thurmond crash-landed in a glider with the 82nd Airborne Division into Normandy. Lt. Col. James Earl Rudder led Rudder's Rangers up the Pointe du Hoc cliffs on D-Day."

Source:

https://www.globalsecurity.org/military/agency/army/usar-history.htm#:~:text=As%20World%20War%20II%20neared%2C%20the%20Army%20Reserve,active%20service%20for%20the%20duration%20of%20the%20war.

https://www.nationalguard.mil/portals/31/Documents/About/Publications/Documents/Fact%20Sheet%20-%20National%20Guard%20In%20World%20War%20II.pdf#:~:text=1940-41%20MOBILIZATION%20Beginning%20in%20September%201940%2C%20the%20first,flying%20squadrons%20to%20the%20nation%27%20s%20active-duty%20forces.