The U.S. and WWII
From Pearl to Midway
SECTION 1: MOBILIZING FOR
DEFENSE
 After Japan attacked
Pearl Harbor, they
thought America would
avoid further conflict
with them
 The Japan Times
newspaper said America
was “trembling in their
shoes”
 But if America was
trembling, it was with
rage, not fear
 “Remember Pearl
Harbor” was the rallying
cry as America entered
WWII
AMERICANS RUSH TO ENLIST
 After Pearl Harbor
five million
Americans
enlisted to fight in
the war
 The Selective
Service expanded
the draft and
eventually
provided an
additional 10
million soldiers
WOMEN JOIN THE FIGHT
 Army Chief of Staff
General George
Marshall pushed for
the formation of the
Women’s Auxiliary
Army Corps (WAAC)
 Under this program
women worked in
non-combat roles
such as nurses,
ambulance drivers,
radio operators, and
pilots
ALL AMERICANS FOUGHT



These “Golden 13” Great Lakes officers scored
the highest marks ever on the Officers exam in
1944


Despite discrimination at
home, minority
populations contributed to
the war effort
1,000,000 African
Americans served in the
military
300,000 MexicanAmericans
33,000 Japanese
Americans
25,000 Native Americans
13,000 Chinese Americans
A PRODUCTION MIRACLE
 Americans converted
their auto industry
into a war industry
 The nation’s
automobile plants
began to produce
tanks, planes, boats,
and command cars
 Many other
industries also
converted to warrelated supplies
LABOR’S CONTRIBUTION
 By 1944, nearly
18 million
workers were
laboring in war
industries (3x the
# in 1941)
 More than 6
million of these
were women and
nearly 2 million
were minority
WAR PRODUCTION BOARD
 To ensure the troops
had ample resources,
FDR created the WPB
 The WPB decided
which companies
would convert to
wartime production
and how to best
allocate raw
materials to those
industries
COLLECTION DRIVES
 The WPB also
organized
nationwide drives to
collect scrap iron, tin
cans, paper, rags and
cooking fat for
recycling
 Additionally, the OPA
set up a system of
rationing
 Households had set
allocations of scarce
goods – gas, meat,
shoes, sugar, coffee
WWII Poster
encouraging
conservation
•After Pearl Harbor and
four months of defeat in
the Pacific, FDR asked
military leaders to strike
back at the heart of
Japan.
•FDR wanted to boost
American morale.
•Show the USA was
capable of retaliation
against an unprovoked
attack.
Lt. Col. Jimmy DooLittle
A B-25 taking off the
USS Hornet
•Strike Japan as they did
Pearl Harbor.
•Led by Lt. Col. James H.
“Jimmy” Doolittle.
•Strike 5 major cities,
including Tokyo
•With 16 B-25 bombers
from the flight deck of the
USS Hornet
•A task which had never
been done.
•After the raid, the planes
were to turn and head for
China.
•Had to launch early
because they were
detected by a
Japanese fisherman.
•200 miles from their
earlier launch point
led to fuel problems.
•The 16 bombers
each headed for their
specific assigned
attack area.
•Although there were
many enemy fighters
in the air, not a single
plane was damaged
or shot down during
the raid.
•Fifteen planes
headed for China,
and one headed for
Russia, landing safely
near Vladivostok.
The
crews were forced to bail out over
the mountains or ditch the aircraft
offshore.
Two crewmen died on the swim to
shore, another was killed during
bailout.

Four
men on one crew were seriously
injured while ditching their bomber.
Eight were captured by the Japanese;
three of which were executed 6 months
later by a firing squad after a mock
trial.

Another
died of malnutrition.
The remaining 4 were starved,
tortured, and placed in solitary
confinement until their rescue by the
OSS (office of Strategic Services) in
1945.

The
crew that landed in Russia were
interned, but they were able to escape
to Iran 14 months later. The plane was
never returned.
Each
Raider received the
Distinguished Flying Cross for their
mission.
Two received silver stars for their
valor and bravery in aiding their fellow
Raiders.

Doolittle
was promoted to Brigadier
General, skipping the rank of Colonel.
He also received the Medal of Honor
from FDR for his gallantry in leading the
mission.

Doolittle

thought the mission was a failure.
Attack boosted the morale of the Americans.
The
Japanese completely revised their plan
of conquest of the USA.
Two months after the Raider’s attacked,
Japan attacked Midway Island with a huge
task force.

They
USA
lost the resulting battle.
sank four aircraft carriers and caused
the Japanese to retreat.
This battle marked the turning point of
Japanese aggression in the South Pacific.

The Battle of Midway

At the Battle of Coral Sea, the Yorktown and the
Lexington fended off a Japanese attack on New
Guinea and preserved Australia.

Code-breakers learned of plan to attack Midway Island

Admiral Chester Nimitz used this as an opportunity to
ambush the Japanese fleet.

Japanese plans were hit with antiaircraft fire, shooting
down 38 planes.

Japan lost 100 pilots which hurt their Air War.

American planes caught carriers by surprise—their
fuel, bombs, and aircraft were exposed.

Four Japanese carriers were sunk, destroying the heart
of the navy.

This hit the Japanese hard—it halted Japanese
expansion in the Pacific.
Fighting at the Battle of
Midway
Badly damaged
Yorktown
Treatment of Japanese-Americans
 The attack on Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941 led
some to suspect that Imperial Japan was preparing a
full-scale attack on the West Coast of the United States.
 Many concerns over the loyalty of ethnic Japanese
seemed to stem from racial prejudice rather than
evidence of actual malfeasance
 Major Karl Bendetsen and Lieutenant General John L.
DeWitt each questioned Japanese American loyalty, and
DeWitt carried out the internment program.
 In February 1942, Earl Warren, the Attorney General of
California, had begun his efforts to persuade the federal
government to remove all people of Japanese heritage
from the West Coast
 Those that were as little as 1/16 Japanese could be
placed in internment camps.
 Presidential Proclamations 2525, 2526 and 2527 were
issued designating Japanese, German and Italian
nationals as enemy aliens
 Executive Order 9066: signed by Franklin D.
Roosevelt on February 19, 1942, allowed authorized
military commanders to designate "military areas" at
their discretion, "from which any or all persons may be
excluded."
 Close to 110, 000 Japanese-Americans were place in
internment camps or relocation centers.
 It took more than 40 years later before the U.S.
admitted fault and began to make $20,000 reparations
to camp survivors
•1944 Supreme
Court case,
Korematsu vs.
U.S., affirmed the
constitutionality
of this terrible
act.
Executive 9066
Executive 9066
A. Philip Randolph/March on Washington
 In 1941, he, Bayard Rustin, and
A. J. Muste proposed a march on
Washington to protest racial
discrimination in war industries
and to propose the desegregation
of the American Armed forces
 The march was cancelled after
FDR issued Executive Order 8802,
or the Fair Employment Act.
 Some militants felt betrayed
because Roosevelt's order applied
only to banning discrimination
within war industries and not the
armed forces.