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Government Asks 120-Year-Old Dead Men to Register for the Draft, Blames Computer Error

You may be 120 years old, dead, and enjoying your eternal peace – but the US government wants you to know that its not done with you yet. The Selective Service System erroneously mailed out over 14,...
Government Asks 120-Year-Old Dead Men to Register for the Draft, Blames Computer Error
Written by Josh Wolford
  • You may be 120 years old, dead, and enjoying your eternal peace – but the US government wants you to know that its not done with you yet.

    The Selective Service System erroneously mailed out over 14,000 reminders to register for the draft. The letters wound up going out to Pennsylvania men born between 1893 and 1897.

    As you would imagine, most all of the intended recipients will be unable to fulfill that obligation.

    A computer error is being blamed.

    “Selective Service apologizes for a June 30, 2014 mailing to 14,215 Pennsylvania men reminding them that they should register. Unfortunately, these letters were sent before a computer error was discovered. The mailing included erroneous names of men born during 1893-1897 from a routine automated data transfer between the State of Pennsylvania and Selective Service. Selective Service regrets any inconvenience caused the families of these men and assures them that the error has been corrected and no action is required on their part,” says the administration in a statement posted to their website.

    The Selective Service System was created in nearly a century ago thanks to the Selective Service Act of 1917. It still requires most men to register for the draft when they turn 18, just in case the draft is ever reinstated.

    The Selective Service maintains that this is the first time something like this has ever happened.

    Image via Wikimedia Commons

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