Transcript WORLD WAR II - Ohio State University

WORLD WAR II
1941 - 1945
PORTRAIT OF THE
AMERICAN EXPERIENCE
From 1939 – 1945, the world went to
war. In all, over 50 countries were
involved contributing more than 80
million soldiers. The conflict included 16
million Americans. In all, 410,000
Americans were killed in places never
before known in America like Pearl
Harbor, Iwo Jima, and Okinawa. Known
as the “Greatest Generation” these events
shaped them. These are their stories.
“A day that will live in infamy”
On Sunday, December 7, 1941, the Pacific
Fleet was attacked by Japanese forces. The
attacking planes came in two waves; the first hit
its target at 7:53 AM, the second at 8:55. By
9:55 it was all over, and by 1:00 PM the carriers
that launched the planes from 274 miles off the
coast of Oahu were heading back to Japan.
Behind them they left chaos: 2,403 dead,
188 destroyed planes and a crippled Pacific
Fleet that included 8 damaged or destroyed
battleships.
The battleships moored along “Battleship
Row” were the primary target of the attack’s first
wave. Ten minutes after the beginning of the
attack, a bomb crashed through the Arizona’s
deck. The explosion ripped through the ship’s
sides, and she sank within minutes taking 1.300
lives with her. One sailor aboard the Arizona at
the time was Marine Corporal E.C. Nightingale.
Battleship Row
The Longest Day
The Allied invasion of Hitler’s “Fortress
Europe” began in the early morning hours of
June 6, 1944, when American and British
paratroopers were dropped behind the intended
invasion beaches along the Normandy coast of
France. At dawn, the sea invasion began as an
Allied Invasion of 5 beaches. The U.S. targets:
Utah and Omaha Beaches.
Some 50,000 U.S. troops stormed the
beaches. By the end of the day, the Allies
had achieved a tenuous toehold that
would be slowly expanded over the next
weeks ultimately leading to the Nazi
defeat along the Western Front.
One soldier involved in that first wave
was a 21 year old paratrooper from
Toledo, Ohio. His name was Albert
Hassenzahl.
Albert M. Hassenzahl

Albert M. Hassenzahl
Albert Hassenzahl, age
21.War: World War II, 1939-1946
Branch: Army
Unit: C Company, 1st Battalion,
506th Parachute Infantry
Regiment, 101st Airborne Division
Service Location: Camp
Livingston, Louisiana; Officer
Candidate School (OCS) and Jump
School, Fort Benning, Georgia;
England; Normandy, France;
Holland (Operation Market
Garden); Bastogne, Belgium;
Germany
Rank: Captain
Place of Birth: Toledo, OH
Women Do Their Part
While soldiers were fighting throughout
Europe, it became important to develop
some way to intercept enemy information; a
new machine was being invented and being
used in Dayton, Ohio.
This new equipment, called the Enigma machine,
was developed by an Oakwood man, Frank Desch.
Under tight security, Building 26 at NCR was being
turned in to a top secret location. WAVES from all
over the U. S. were coming to Dayton and staying in
housing known as Sugar Camp.
Each day the WAVES would march down
the hill to Building 26. Over time, this
workforce grew from 100 to 2,000 workers.
One of these women was Joan Precht.
REGULATIONS
ENIGMA MACHINE
Flags of our Fathers
One of the bloodiest battle of the Pacific
Theater was the little known island of Iwo
Jima. This battle began in February 19, 1945
and lasted until March 26, 1945. Also known
as the Operation Detachment, the purpose of
this battle was to push the Japanese navy
closer to their homeland.
While not an extremely long campaign, it
was a very costly one in loss of life.
The Japanese were dug into underground
tunnels and fought fiercely. At the end of the
campaign American Marine dead or wounded
numbered over 26,000. Japanese dead
numbered over 18,000 but only 216 were ever
captured and taken prisoner.
One of the most memorable events of
World War II was the raising of the flag at
Mount Suribachi. Listen to Cpl. Charles W.
Lindberg’s account of this now famous
event.
Raising of the first flag
“Oh my god, what have we done?”
After 6 months of bombings in Japan and a
refused ultimatum, Harry S. Truman signed an
executive order to unleash a “secret weapon” on
a Japanese city. A well known pilot, Paul
Warfield Tibbets was chosen to command the
mission.
He had begun training in 1944 for such a
mission in Utah as part of the 105th Composite
Mission in connection with the Manhattan
Project.
On August 5th, Tibbets officially named
B-29 bomber 44-86292, the Enola Gay after
his mother. Then on August 6th at 2:45 AM,
this famous mission left Tinian in the
Marianas Islands carrying just one bomb. At
8:15 AM the plane reached its destination of
Hiroshima. The bomb, “Little Boy” was
dropped and history was changed forever.
It’s Over !!!!
For four years our young Americans fought
bravely along side of our Allies throughout the
world. On May 8, 1945, the European Theater
had ended signaling VE Day. While there were
celebrations at the end of Nazi occupation in
Europe, they were tempered by the realities of
work yet to be done in the Pacific.
Then finally on August 14, 1945, the long
awaited news of Japan’s surrender filled the
airwaves: VJ Day. It was finally over.
Next year we will celebrate the 70th
anniversary of Pearl Harbor. Our young
soldiers of World War II have now become
the elderly population in their 80s and 90s.
We are losing this generation at a rate of
more than 7,000 every week. Let us take the
opportunity to save and share their amazing
stories while they are here to tell them.
Dedicated to the men and women of
World War II.