The War Department presented the largest number of candidates for naturalization under the new law. Their location and distribution were general throughout the United States, extending from points in Maine, throughout the country, to the Pacific coast, in the various cantonments, army camps, posts, and military stations. So insistent was the demand for immediate action to naturalize the soldiers of foreign birth in our ranks, in order to enable units to move solidly and prevent dismemberment, that the Bureau detailed immediately such of its experienced officers as it could spare to take charge of instructing the newly appointed examiners, even though their removal from their regular stations resulted in embarrassments to courts, court officials, and thousands of candidates under the general provisions of the law. From various sources throughout the United States men qualified in law and typewriting were nominated by citizens interested in accomplishing this great need for our military forces. In less than two weeks the process of naturalization had begun in many of the cantonments, and by the end of June, 63,993 soldiers had become entitled to all of the rewards of the American soldier by having citizenship conferred upon them. The necessity of this legislation was clearly shown by the report of the Provost Marshal General, from which it appears that there were 123,277 soldiers not naturalized. This total comprised 76,545 foreigners who had not declared their intention, and 46,732 declarants. CITIZENS AT HEART BUT “ENEMY ALIENS” A very important by-product of this legislation went to the benefit of persons of foreign birth, long resident--many of them practically life-long residents--in the United States, but still aliens, and many of them enemy aliens, in those states which at that time permitted voting upon the declaration of intention without the completion of naturalization. In many thousands of such cases, these persons, technically aliens, not only had sons and grandsons in the military service of the nation as volunteers or willingly drafted soldiers, but were themselves of the highest degree of loyalty, enlisted to their last ounce of energy and resources in the country’s cause, and in good faith believing themselves to be citizens in full standing for every American purpose.[124]