The United States entered World War II after the surprise attack by Japan on December 7, 1941, on Pearl Harbor.

Many Scouts served valiantly in the service of the country expanding on the service that was rendered during World War I. President Franklin D. Roosevelt, an Arrowman, signed a letter asking Scouts "to take an important commission as Government Dispatch Bearers for the Office of War Information (OWI)." The Boy Scouts of America would become the "Official Dispatch Bearers" for the OWI and the main workforce for a poster distribution system. Thousands of young men were responsible for the delivery of posters to shops all across America.

Scouts also did many other things such as planting trees, and collecting tin, aluminum, rags and tires for recycling into war materials taking a lead role in "the war at home". Carroll A. Edson was called back to active duty, having served in the reserve since World War I, and served in the infantry in Kansas. Before leaving the military, Edson rose to the rank of Colonel. It is known that at least Unami Lodge, Philadelphia and Delmont Lodge, Valley Forge, Pennsylvania issued celluloid buttons with broken arrows to honor fallen Arrowmen during World War II.