Americans join the war effort

MOBILIZATION ON THE HOMEFRONT Americans join the war effort

5 million volunteers Soldiers • Selective Service Act added 5 million more • G.I. – “Government Issue” - first applied to uniforms, weapons, equipment; to the soldiers

WAVE Radio OperatorJohn Falter Women Women’s Auxiliary Army Corps (WAAC) Women's Auxiliary Ferrying Squadron (WAFs) Less pay, rank and benefits than men 250,000 served

Minorities

Hispanic Americans Los Angeles – 1/10th of city’s population but suffered 1/5th of city’s casualties Post war, many veterans used the G.I. Bill to earn a college education.

Segregated units: mostly non-combat roles African-Americans • Just carve on my tombstone, ‘Here lies a black man killed fighting a yellow man for the protection of a white man.’” • More than a million served Lt. Gen. George S. Patton, U.S. Third Army commander, pins the Silver Star on Private Ernest A. Jenkins of New York City for his conspicuous gallantry in the liberation of Chateaudun, France. October 13,

33,000 in uniform Asian Americans 13,000 joined; one of every five living here Served as interpreters throughout the war. Some spies were discovered. Radio Intercept Section, 6th AAF Radio Squadron Mobile 10th AAF, CBI Theater, September 1944.L-R: Teiho Chena, Ted Tdukiyama, Tom Goto, and Mark Akisada

Native Americans • 25,000 • Opportunity to leave reservation and meet non-Indians • “We would not need the Selective Service Act if all volunteered like the Indians.” • Code talkers

Life on the Homefront

Women Rosie is provided by Curtis Publishing. Permission Requested. Labor 6 out of 18 million workers Earned 60% of a man’s salary 2 million minorities

Labor African-Americans - mostly menial jobs Roosevelt’s executive order – “To provide for the full and equitable participation of all workers without racial discrimination.”

Pesticides (DDT) – insects and lice Scientists As a pesticide, DDT was first used during WWII. It was so effective as an insect killer that some called it the "atomic bomb" of pesticides. After WWII, the U.S. realized that DDT could also be used on farms to control some common agricultural pests.

Atomic bomb – Manhattan Project Developed by American scientists, the first atomic bomb was detonated at the Trinity test site near Alamogordo, New Mexico, on July 16, 1945. The test convinced the United States government that such weapons were viable in warfare.

Penicillin The technique to produce large amounts of penicillin was perfected by an American drug company. This technique allowed the Allies to produce enough penicillin to aide throughout the war. A magazine ad for penicillin during WWII

d. Blood bank In 1938, Dr. Charles Drew, a leading authority on mass transfusion and blood processing methods, set up a blood plasma system. In September 1945, the American Red Cross had collected over 13 million units of blood and converted nearly all of it into plasma. An American medic administers plasma to a wounded soldier. NARA

a. Propaganda films – Frank Capra’s “Why We Fight” series Entertainment

Entertainment USO shows Bob Hope and his USO group in Guadalcanal.

Celebrities – 1 Jimmy Stewart and Stan Musial held up their careers to serve John Wayne booed by Marines on a USO tour for not serving

Government takes Control Office of Price Administration (OPA)1. Froze prices, rents and wages to curb inflation2. Rationing – foods such as meat, sugar (needed for explosives), butter, cheese, coffee, and vegetables

Rationing fuel and materials vital to the war such as nylon, gas, oil, metals, rubber and plastic C. War Productions Board (WPB) Decided what companies would convert and allocated raw materials Organization of scrap drives – iron, tin cans, paper, rags, cooking fat

National War Labor Board (NWLB)1. Limited wages2. Workers could not change unions Department of the Treasury War bonds

Japanese Internment Camps

Americans join the war effort