More than 14,000 dead Pennsylvania residents drafted by the military
Published in Weird News
KINGSTON, Pa. (UPI) -- The United States threatened to fine or imprison more than 14,000 Pennsylvania men if they did not sign up for military duty.
The problem is, most of the men were born between 1893 and 1897 and are no longer with us.
"We made a mistake," said Jan McKnight, a community relations coordinator for Pennsylvania's Department of Transportation. This just wasn't good. We do apologize.
Records were being transferred at the Department of Transportation, which led to the error.
"Our records identify you as a man who may be required to register with Selective Service," the letter read. Failure to register with Selective Service is a federal crime punishable by a fine and imprisonment.
World War I veteran Bert Huey, who would be 119 if he were still alive, was one of the men drafted.
"If he was here, yeah, he would probably laugh and say, 'Yeah, I'll go.' He was that kind of guy," Chuck Huey, Bert's 73-year-old grandson, told Go Lackawanna.
Copyright 2014 by United Press International
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