Men & Women in Uniform
Chapter 25.4
World War II, 1941-1945
pp. 766-771
Mobilization
After Pearl Harbor Americans jammed
recruiting offices
5 million volunteered for service
The Selective Service System was expanded
and another 10 million were drafted (GI’s)
Women’s Army Corps (WAC’s) and 350,000
women served as nurses, ambulance drivers,
radio operators, electricians, parachute
riggers, photographers, mechanics, and clerks
WAAC
Women’s
Army
Auxiliary
Corps
WAVES
Women
Accepted for
Voluntary
Service
The Selective Service Act
• 1940-45:
–Men Ages 18-45 drafted
– Military rejected 1/3
–16+ million trained
U.S. Navy
Enlistment
Poster
Diversity in the Armed Forces
300,000 Mexican Americans served
25,000 Native Americans Served (Navaho Code
Talkers)
1 million African Americans served
At first blacks were given supporting roles in
segregated units, by 1942 they were given some
combat opportunities
The Tuskegee Airman, Dr. Charles Drew
By 1944 some African Americans served in white
combat units
33,000 Japanese and 13,000 Chinese served
"the blood of individual
human beings may differ
by blood groupings, but
there is absolutely no
scientific basis to indicate
any difference in human
blood from race to
race.“… Dr. Drew
Dorie
Miller
Received the
Navy Cross
May 27, 1942
The Tuskegee Airmen
• “Red Tails”
• First Black military airmen
• 1,000 Black pilots trained at
Tuskegee, Ala
• Two citations awarded
442nd Japanese
American Unit
KIA
WIA
NaplesFoggia
Campaign
Rome-Arno
Campaign
139
442
3
584
239
1,016
17
1,272
Rhineland
CampaignVosges
160
1,220
42
1,422
11
102
2
115
101
922
3
1,026
650
3713*
67
4,419*
Rhineland
CampaignMaritime
Alps
Po Valley
Campaign
Total
MIA Total
KIA = Killed In Action (includes Died Of Wounds)
WIA =442nd Regimental Combat Team Facts Wounded In Action (includes
Injured In Action)
*Includes 15 WIA/IIA in 442nd Anti-Tank Company at Southern France
Campaign (invasion)
Source: U.S. Army Mediterranean Theater of Operations InformationEducation Section. The Story of the 442nd Combat Team, Composed of:
442nd Infantry Regiment, 522nd Field Artillery Battalion, 232nd Combat
Engineer Company, 1945.
The Bataan Death March
• Battle of Bataan in Philippines: January 7 –
April 9 1942 (3 months, and 2 days)
– 78,000 American and Filipino surrendered to
Japanese
• 60 mile “death march” – 7 days – from
Bataan peninsula to POW Camp O’Donnell
– Limited food & water
– Random executions
– At least 6,000 died on route
In a Japanese prison camp
U.S. POWs celebrate 4th of July, 1942
The Bataan Death March (1942)…
The Bataan Death March (1942)
The Bataan Death March (1942)
Camp O’Donnel 1,600 Americans 10,000 Filipinos
died here
POWs
• Approximately 120,000 American
POWS
• 1941-45 POW Death Rate
–Japan: 40%
–Germany: 1.2%.
–Prisoners were subjected to slave
labor, cruel punishment & medical
experiments