I’ve always wanted to know the answer to this but couldn’t find any data. Was it by random? Last name alphabetically? Certain branches go to certain countries?
I previously detailed how men were assigned to the services and where they served in posts here and here, but more answers can be found on my profile here.
The majority of the Army's effort was directed at the combined European and Mediterranean Theaters, and essentially the entirety of the Marine Corps and most of the Navy spent the entire war or portions of the war in the Pacific.
30 April 1945 Reported Actual Strengths in Principal Theaters (U.S. Army)
30 April 1945 | ETO | MTO | SWPA | POA | CBI | Combined | Total Army |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Divisions | 819,342 | 102,485 | 183,798 | 80,834 | 1,186,459 | ||
Non-divisional Combat Troops | 595,418 | 37,797 | 113,318 | 102,076 | 15,766 | 864,375 | |
Total Ground Combat Troops | 1,414,660 | 140,282 | 297,118 | 182,910 | 15,766 | 2,050,835 | |
Non-divisional Service Troops | 828,726 | 128,307 | 214,835 | 142,579 | 69,898 | 1,384,345 | |
Air Service | 439,425 | 153,005 | 173,343 | 75,438 | 90,949 | 932,160 | |
Replacements | 171,933 | 34,551 | 34,203 | 20,371 | 4,355 | 265,423 | |
Patients in SOS Hospitals | 128,305 | 15,679 | 41,135 | 6,423 | 1,439 | 192,981 | |
Unclassified | 27,598 | 4,972 | 29,500 | 19,851 | 10,447 | 131,636 | |
Total | 3,065,505 | 493,876 | 802,504 | 450,952 | 198,830 | 5,011,657 | 8,290,993 |