Enlisting at 15, Franklin Twp. veteran served all over
Whiling away the time one summer day in 1945, Joe Jenkins, 92, of Franklin Township wandered into the Butler County Courthouse.
The 15-year-old walked past the draft office and decided to stop in out of curiosity.
“The guy asked me, 'What do you want?' and I said, 'I want to sign up for the draft,'” Jenkins recalled as he sipped a bottle of beer at his dining room table recently.
The officer asked Jenkins' birthday, and the young man knew he had to be 18 years old to enter the service.
He replied with a date two days before, but three years prior to his actual birth year of 1929.
“The atomic bomb was dropped about two days before I went in,” Jenkins said.
A portion of this story is shared with you as a digital media exclusive. To read the full story and support our local, independent newsroom, please subscribe online or pick up Thursday’s print copy of the Butler Eagle.
