Was there a clear geographical divide between the services based off of the proximity of the threat or was this not really a thing?
During WWII, there was no clear geographical division of where men were sent to fight based upon their place of residence in the United States. One thing that in some cases, can be considered an exception (was the National Guard; units from one or several states provided men for divisions. In the numbering scheme the United States used during World War II, the numbers 26 to 45 were reserved for divisions of the National Guard.
| Division | States | Theater |
|---|---|---|
| 26th | CT, MA, ME, NH, RI, VT | European |
| 27th | NY | Pacific |
| 28th | PA | European |
| 29th | D.C., MD, PA, VA | European |
| 30th | GA, NC, SC, TN | European |
| 31st | AL, FL, LA, MS | Pacific |
| 32nd | MI, WI | Pacific |
| 33rd | IL | Pacific |
| 34th | ND, SD, MN, IA | North African, Mediterranean |
| 35th | MO, NE | European |
| 36th | TX | Mediterranean, European |
| 37th | OH | Pacific |
| 38th | IN, KY, WV | Pacific |
| 40th | CA, UT | Pacific |
| 41st | ID, MT, OR, WA, WY | Pacific |
| 43rd | CT, ME, RI, VT | Pacific |
| 44th | NJ, NY | European |
| 45th | AZ, CO, NM, OK | Mediterranean, European |
The 134th Infantry Regiment of the Nebraska National Guard (35th Infantry Division) was broken down as follows:
| Unit | Town/City |
|---|---|
| Regimental Headquarters | Omaha |
| Cannon Company | Unknown |
| Antitank Company | Gering |
| Service Company | York |
| Medical Detachment | Omaha |
| 1st Battalion Headquarters | Omaha |
| Company A | Nebraska City |
| Company B | Falls City |
| Company C | Beatrice |
| Company D | North Platte |
| 2nd Battalion Headquarters | Omaha |
| Company E | Scottsbluff |
| Company F | Hartington |
| Company G | Hastings |
| Company H | Grand Island |
| 3rd Battalion Headquarters | Lincoln |
| Company I | Lincoln |
| Company K | Omaha |
| Company L | Omaha |
| Company M | Seward |
The geographic location of the National Guard divisions themselves didn't really factor into where they were sent to fight; the 27th Infantry Division, made up of National Guardsmen from New York state, went to the Pacific early in the war, (1942) while the 44th Infantry Division, a National Guard division from New Jersey and New York, went to Europe later in the war (1944) The 32nd Infantry Division, from Michigan and Wisconsin, went to the Pacific with most of its men having only seen Lake Michigan! It seems that most of the National Guard divisions that went to the Pacific Theater were actually those made up of states farthest from an ocean! When National Guard divisions took casualties, they were reinforced by enlistees or drafted replacements (I discuss this below) from all over the country; by the end of the war, most original Guardsmen were not with their divisions anymore, having become casualties. The last instance of an original Guardsman being wounded in a line company of the 34th Infantry Division came in October 1944.