Transcript Mobilization on the Home Front

Mobilization on the Home Front
•Women in the Military
–Women joined the armed forces in record numbers, though not in combat
roles. Most took clerical jobs in the various branches (WAVES and WAACS).
Women in the Work Force
• Women (characterized as "Rosie the Riveter") took many jobs in heavy
industry, such as shipbuilding and aircraft production.
•Popular opinion opposed women working and some private
contractors refused to hire women.
•Office of War Information supported a domestic propaganda
campaign to make women's work seem patriotic.
•Between 1941 and 1945, 6.5 million women entered the work force,
a 57% increase.
Minorities in the Armed Forces
• Segregated in the military
• African Americans
– 1,000,000+
– Provided support roles in the military
• Driving vehicles
• Non-Combat occupations
• Did see combat action in the last year of
the war
– Tuskegee Airmen
• African Americans break down
stereotypes
• they flew more than 15,000 sorties
(missions)
• destroyed over 1,000 German aircraft
• NO bombers lost while being escorted
by the 332nd, a unique achievement
Minorities in the Armed Forces
• Japanese-Americans
– Nisei
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33,000 enlisted in the Armed Forces
Several thousand volunteered as spies and interpreters in the Pacific War
The Nisei served in the European War
The 100th/442nd went on to make military history, becoming the most
decorated unit for its size and length of service in U.S. military history.
• Only one Medal of Honor was given at
the end of World War II. It was given
to the family of Sadao Munemori of
Los Angeles. On June 21, 2000, 55
years after the end of World War II,
President Clinton awarded an
additional twenty Medal of Honor
awards to Japanese American
members of the 442nd Regimental
Combat Team; eleven were killed in
action and three had died since the
war. The average age of the surviving
veterans was 80 years old.
• President Bill Clinton awards Senator
Dan Inouye the Medal of Honor at the
White house ceremony
Minorities in the Armed Forces
• Chinese Americans
– 13,000 joined the Armed
Forces
• Mexican Americans
– 500,000 joined the Armed
Forces
– All-Latino units saw heavy
action in Europe and the
Pacific
• Native Americans
– 25,000 enlisted in the Armed
Services including 800 women
– Navajo Code Talkers saved
thousands of Soldiers lives in
the Pacific
Life on the Home Front
• Industrial Production
– War Production Board halted non-essential building to conserve materials
for war purposes.
• Plants retool to manufacturing products for War
Using Page 732, What did manufactures produce for the War effort
• Auto makers produced Tanks, planes, & boats
• Mechanical pencil maker produced bomb parts
• Bedspread maker produced mosquito netting
• Soft drink company filled shells with explosive
Life on the Home Front
• Labor Groups
– Labor groups made no-strike pledges, but some wildcat strikes
broke out, particularly among miners.
• Smith-Connally Anti-Strike Act (1943) made it a criminal offense to
tie up industry
• Except for brief work stoppages, American workers chose not to
strike (less than 1% of working time during the war was lost, a record
better than England's).
Mobilization of Scientists
• Office of Scientific Research and
Development (ORSD)
– New Technologies
Using Page 734, What did Scientist Contribute to
the War Effort?
• Radar and sonar
http://www.criticalpast.com/video/65675061610_B-17-Flying-Fortress-bomber_Air-Sea-Rescueoperations_Electronic-Position-Indicator
• Pesticides to fight insects
• Penicillin and other “miracle drugs”
• The Atomic Bomb aka The Manhattan
Project
Hollywood Goes to War
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Movies take on Patriotic Themes
Many Use their fame to promote War Bond Drives
Many enlist to serve
Hollywood produces propaganda and informational films for the Armed Services
and Public
Not just Hollywood but Athletes as well
Economic Controls
• Rationing goods to consumers reached major levels as goods became
scarce--gasoline, butter, rubber, shoes, sugar, and meat were rationed.
• Office of Price Administration (OPA)
• War Production Board (WPB)
– Determined which companies produced war products and organized raw
materials and nationwide drives for …..Use page 736 to identify what they
collected.
– Scrap iron and other metals
– Rubber and paper, rags and cooking fat
Promoting the War
• Propaganda
– government promoted pro-war messages
– Why We Fight series by Frank Capra
– Commercial movies were blatantly patriotic and
emphasized the “melting pot” nature of American forces
"Thirty Seconds Over Tokyo" Spencer Tracy,
Robert Walker, Don Defore, Van Johnson
1944 MGM
Hollywood director Frank
Capra cuts Army film as a
Signal Corps Reserve major
during World War II.
Promoting the War
• While Nazis and Japanese were portrayed as ruthless
barbarians, Italians were treated more generously in films and
written propaganda.