My question is during the pacific theater operations was there a tendency for recruiters to target states or areas of America that had been heavily settled by Germans. One name comes to mind an that is General Kruger (?) Who had fought in WW1 for the Germans yet during WW2 was allowed to govern things in the Pacific theater.
For the record i live in Australia an was also curious as to whether not that policy existed in Australia.

My guess is no for the PTO.
There was a need for interpreters/interrogators in the ETO.
All males were eligible per physical qualifications.
Then it was up to the draft board for deferments, per student, till quit/graduate, and things like sole care-giver stuff, hardship etc..
Once again, up to the board. Comprised of local "leading" citizens, so to speak....Politics. You know how honest this is. like the words even belong together

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"Danger Will Robinson!"

Umm, a couple of things . . .

First, Walter Krueger, while born in East Prussia, came to the US when he was 8 years old. He enlisted in a volunteer regiment in 1898 for the Spanish-American War and mustered out when it was over (Feb 1899). In June he re-enlisted in the 12th US Infantry and went to the Philippines. He was commissioned in 1901. (Not at all an unusual path, my grandfather enlisted in the 1st DC Infantry for the Sp-Am War, re-enlisted in the 21st US Infantry, went to the Philippines and was also commissioned in 1901. There were an unusally large number of commissions from the ranks - after considerable testing and such - in the 1900-1901 period due to expansion of the Army to meet now world-wide manning requirements. There were several USA generals in WWII who went this route). Anyway, Krueger NEVER served in the German Army, ever.

Second, after the initial enlistment rush following Pearl Harbor, most people entering the US Army did so via selective service. This method allowed for an orderly flow into processing and training facilities. There was little "recruiting" one was either called or one was not. Placement once inducted was a wholely different issue. Inductees were examined for qualifications and critical skills or potentials were culled for specific duties.

Rich

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I wonder what this button does . . .

I have never heard of any policy of selecting Americans of German descent for service in the Pacific. In any case, it was not up to the local Selective Service boards where inductees might be assigned, that decision was reserved to the personnel and planning sections of each service. Units made up of men from a particular geographic area might have more members of a specific ethnicity than others, but except for rare exceptions were not assigned on the basis of ethnic membership. Having said that, there does seem to have been lots of commanders in the PTO with German heritage; Nimitz was one such example. I believe, however, it was simply a matter of happenstance.

Dont forget that some National Guard units were made up of persons from the same geographical areas. When they were Federalized most went into service as a whole.

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For the first time I have seen "History" at close quarters,and I know that its actual process is very different from what is presented to Posterity. - WWI General Max Hoffman

Did not mean to suggest the "Ma & Pa" draft boards decided where the inductee later went, only whether or not he was to (such as between brothers) go.

Tests as usual to determine intelligence, exceptional eyesight, mechanical familiarity and the like (square peg in round hole)(ink blot-what do you see).

If I'm not mistaken even the Germans did as JC stated and sometimes formed units, divisions even, all from the same area. Where they went from there was up to the OKF.

Panzer troops from farm country for example, after the cream of the crop was removed for further training for advanced needs, and the slag (as was said) culled to the lower ones.

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"Danger Will Robinson!"

The short answer given by the others is 'no'. Aside from the regional flavor of the National Guard units there was no concentration of German names in any particular fashion. Unlike the Nisei or those of African ancestry my father & his cousins were not segregated into 'German' regiments or picked out for any specific theatre. They were shoved into the training machine and distributed without any refrence to their name or grandparent origin.

Some recent immigrants from Germany and Italy were prevented from entering military service due to their association with the German Bund in America, or affiliation with the nazi party in Germany or Facist party in Italy. My father was accquainted with one such individual near his home.

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Thankyou for your answers everyone.

Note that General Weidermeyer who spoke German fluently and attended the Kriegsacademie on a exchange program in the 1930s never served in the ETO. He was posted to China and eventually replaced Stillwell as US advisor to the Nationalist government.

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