America at War: 1941-1945 FDR’s STRATEGY: 1. Attack Germany first: save USSR and UK 2. Attack...

America at War: 1941-1945

FDR’s STRATEGY:

1. Attack Germany first: save USSR and UK

2. Attack Japan second: give ground in Pacific

PROBLEM: Will America arm itself (and its Allies) in time?

CONCERN: Were totalitarian warriors better than citizen-soldiers?

Getting Ready for WarOn the Homefront:

War Production Board = change civilian economy to war economy. How?– Priorities– Restricting wages, labor strikes– Utilizing women and minorities– Braceros– Great African American Migration

Poster by Thomas Hart Benton: "Back Him Up"This poster by the famous artist Thomas Hart Benton emphasized the need for all Americans to do their part in winning the war by buying war bonds and laboring in factories and fields, as well as by fighting in the armed forces and, not incidentally, contributing their artistic talents. (Library of Congress)

Poster by Thomas Hart Benton: "Back Him Up"

Copyright © Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.

Rosie the RiveterMemorialized in song and story, "Rosie the Riveter" symbolized the women war workers who assumed jobs in heavy industry to take up the slack for the absent 15 million men in the armed services. Here a very real Rosie the Riveter is doing her job in April 1943 at the Baltimore manufacturing plant for Martin PMB mariners. Although sometimes scorned by male workers, the dedication and efficiency of most female workers won them the praise of male plant supervisors. (National Archives)

Rosie the Riveter


Women train operators, New York, 1942Women workers mastered numerous job skills during the war. In 1942 crews of women cared for Long Island commuter trains like this one. (Corbis-Bettmann)

Women train operators, New York, 1942


Hazel Ah Ying Lee, Women's Air Force Service PilotMore than 350,000 women served in the military during the war, including Lt. Hazel Ying Lee, a Women's Air Force Service Pilot. WASPs flew "noncombat," ferrying planes and supplies across the United States and Canada. Already an experienced pilot in China, Lt. Lee is seated here in the cockpit of a trainer. Lt. Lee died in 1943, when her plane crashed. (Texas Woman's University)

Hazel Ah Ying Lee, Women's Air Force Service Pilot


Tuskegee AirmenThe pilots of the 99th Pursuit Squadron, the first African American aerial fighting unit, trained at a field adjacent to Alabama's all-black Tuskegee Institute and became known as the "Tuskegee Airmen." They entered combat over North Africa in June of 1943 and won much praise for their battles against the Luftwaffe. However, most blacks throughout the war were confined to noncombat service. (U.S. Air Force)

Tuskegee Airmen


Col. Benjamin Davis, Jr., WWII pilotA leader of the Tuskegee airmen, Benjamin O. Davis, Jr. was the fourth African American to graduate from West Point. During the war, Colonel Davis commanded the 332d Fighter Group, which destroyed over two hundred enemy planes in southern Europe. (National Archives)

Col. Benjamin Davis, Jr., WWII pilot


Navajo Code Talkers by Colonel C.H. Waterhouse, USMCR

Navajo "code talkers," who were U.S. Marines, were among the first assault forces to land on Pacific beaches. Dodging enemy fire, they set up radio equipment and transmitted vital information to headquarters, including enemy sightings and targets for American shelling. The Japanese never broke the special Navajo code. The artist is Colonel C.H. Waterhouse, U.S. Marine Corps (retired). (U.S. Marine Corps Art Coallection/Colonel C.H. Waterhouse)

Navajo Code Talkers by Colonel C.H. Waterhouse, USMCR


Japanese-American Soldiers• Soldiers of the 442nd fought in eight major

campaigns in Italy, France and Germany, including the battles at Monte Cassino, Anzio and Biffontaine. They earned more than 18,000 individual decorations, including one Medal of Honor, 53 Distinguished Service Crosses, 588 awards of the Silver Star, 5,200 awards of the Bronze Star Medal and 9,486 Purple Hearts, and seven Presidential Unit Citations, the nation's top award for combat units. President Clinton approved the upgrade of 19 DSCs to the Medal of Honor on May 12. http://www.defenselink.mil/news/newsarticle.aspx?id=45180

Japanese Internment110,000 Japanese American Interred

Upheld by Korematsu v. USContributions of Nissei soldiers

“442nd has been recognized as the most decorated unit in United States history. 18,000 total awards were bestowed upon the 442nd, including 9,500 Purple Hearts, 52 Distinguished Service Crosses, Seven Distinguished Unit Citations, but only one Congressional Medal of Honor (Crost, Honor by Fire. 179)” http://www.scu.edu/diversity/442nd.html

Zoot Suit RiotsOne hundred people were injured during the 1943 "zoot-suit riot" in Los Angeles, when white mobs attacked Mexican American men and tore off their zoot suits. During the riot, Los Angeles police arrested Mexican Americans for wearing such attire in violation of a city ordinance. These men in chains were headed to jail. (Library of Congress)

Zoot Suit Riots


ELECTION OF 1944FDR v. DEWEY

(Truman V. Wallace?)

America at War: 1941-1945 FDR’s STRATEGY: 1. Attack Germany first: save USSR and UK 2. Attack...

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