Transcript Winning the War The 442nd Regiment

World
War
II
• Formed in 1943
• Made up of Nisei
• Fought with distinction in Italy
and France
• Most decorated combat unit in
U.S. history
Members of the 442nd hiking through France, late 1944
• All-black combat unit formed in 1941
• 99th Fighter Squadron formed in AL
• Escorted bombers over central
Europe
• Proved superior or equal to white pilots
Airmen Marcellus G. Smith and Roscoe
C. Brown in Italy, 1945
• American pilots who volunteered to serve
in the Chinese Air Force before U.S.
entered the war
• Later transferred to the United States
after Pearl Harbor
• Played a vital role in the air war in China
and Burma
• Used to transmit messages in the
Pacific Theater
• Based on the Navajo language
• Navajo words frequently substituted
for military terms
• Code never broken
Code Talkers Henry Bake and George Kirk send
messages in the Pacific Theater, 1943
The
Sullivan Brothers
• From Waterloo, IA
• Enlisted in the Navy on
the condition they would
serve together
• Assigned to the USS
Juneau
• All five killed at
Guadalcanal in 1942
Planning for Victory
CASABLANCA (1943).
Roosevelt and Churchill met in this North African
city after the invasion of North Africa
Issued ultimatum of unconditional surrender to
Germany and Japan.
TEHERAN CONFERENCE (1943).
First meeting of the "Big Three," Roosevelt,
Churchill and Stalin.
They agreed on the opening of a Second Front in
Western Europe
Proposed the partition of Germany at the end of the
war.
Russia agreed to enter the war against Japan after
Germany was defeated.
Planning for Victory
YALTA CONFERENCE (1945).
Most important of the wartime conferences,
Decisions would determine world affairs to the
present day.
Churchill and Roosevelt believed the war against
Japan would be long and costly unless Russia
joined it.
a) Russia would enter war against Japan after Germany
was defeated.
b) United Nations would be created.
c) Russia would regain all territories lost to Japan in 1905
d) Russia would be given three votes in the United Nations
Assembly.
e) Free elections would be held in European nations
formerly occupied by Nazi Germany.
f) Germany was to be divided into British, American,
French, & Soviet zones of occupation.
Planning for Victory
POTSDAM CONFERENCE (1945).
Last meeting of the "Big Three."
Roosevelt replaced by President Harry S.
Truman.
Churchill replaced by Clement Atlee.
Only Stalin remained of the original "Big
Three."
Allied plans for postwar Germany and
Japan made and announced.
Warned Japan to surrender or suffer a fate
like Germany.
Roosevelt Dies
FDR’s funeral procession moves down
Pennsylvania Avenue in Washington D.C.
• April 12, 1945
• At his retreat in Warm Springs,
GA
• Only a few weeks before the end
of the war in Europe
• Widely mourned
Truman Takes Office
Truman takes the oath of office shortly after
FDR’s death
• Vice president for only 82 days
• Oversaw last months of the war
• Authorized use of the atomic
bomb
• President during the early Cold
War
6 million Jews killed
10 million people total