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As described earlier in the isolationism piece Americans, prior to World War II and Pearl Harbor, were very intent on not joining world affairs. So when we do go to war on December 8, 1941 with Japan and the other Axis Powers, a lot of things had to be adjusted on the home front to fit the needs of the soldiers in war. In order to defeat the different totalitarian states, America itself must unite through the strength of women, minorities and the media.

Women and the War

With over 16 million of the nation’s young men in the war, the time had come for women to once again join the work force. This was nothing new to the nation. During World War I, many women also got involved in the war effort. Even after the war ended and the young men fighting in the war returned, many women continued working (see graph below)

Even during the depression, when a third of the American population was unemployed, many women managed to get part-time or reduced rate jobs. Mildred Chatalian described her situation, “At the time, because of the Depression, I worked as a maid on the East Side. I had one day off a week, and my pay for the entire week was $2.00." During this time, many women understood and acknowledged the rise of the totalitarian states in Asia and Europe. “I think all of us were terrified of Hitler. I mean he'd gone booming through all of Europe, just doing whatever he wanted to do," said Barbara Gwynne, who was only 26 years old when the war started. Nancy Potter, who was just 16, recalled her fears, "I was standing on the stairs when the Pearl Harbor announcement was made... I can remember looking down at the carpet, and thinking my life would never be the same again." She was perfectly right. Soon propaganda encouraging all women to participate in the war effort was seen. These posters played to the emotional and sensitive nature of the women, reminding them of the men they had seen off to the war (see examples below). Women reacted eagerly and at the height of war in July 1944, over 19 million women were employed .(http://history.sandiego.edu/gen/st/~cg3/pagetwo.html; March 3, 2007)

It was very hard for these women, though, especially mothers, Besides from having to part from their husbands, sweethearts, brothers, cousins and fathers, these women also had to work, ration what they ate, and help the war effort as much as they could. In her book American Women and World War II, Doris Weatherford describes a typical day in the life of a wartime mother who also had a night job, “Alma, who because she worked nights would often times get home just as her children were getting ready to leave for school. Immediately she would send her children off to school, then she would eat breakfast, clean the mess in the kitchen, and then finally go to bed around 10 am. She would get about an hour and a half of sleep before the alarm went off to tell her that her kids would be home for lunch. When they got home she would feed them, and send them off again. After that it was back to bed until 3 pm, when they arrived home again. Once the children were home for the day she would clean the house, do the laundry (if there was time), and then cook dinner with the limited amount of supplies available to her…after she cleaned the kitchen she would take a nap until she needed to leave for work at 10pm.” The average woman who worked nights and still took care of her family averaged about five to six hours of sleep a day, but they were never consecutive. By the end of 1943, one-third of the women work force in World War II consisted of mothers who had children at home. This turned out to be a major conflict for these wartime mothers. Seeing this, the government responded and tried alleviating some of the problems faced by these women. Section B of article IV of Paul Mc Nutt's 1942 War Manpower Commission directive stated that,” If any such women are unable to arrange for satisfactory care of their children...adequate facilities should be provided...Such facilities should be developed as community projects and not under the auspices of individual employers or employer groups." The Landam Act, a federally subsidized child care system, attempted to do this. At its peak it only had about 3,000 child care facilities, which cared for about 130,000 children(http://history.sandiego.edu/gen/st/~cg3/pagetwo.html; March 3, 2007). Although this act failed to help everybody in the end, it just shows just how important women were to the work force. The federal government is even involved in helping women balance their home life and work life. Not every single woman was involved in the war effort. Many who opted to stay home and take care of their children helped in a different way. Sugar was vital to the war effort, because it makes molasses; molasses makes ethyl alcohol; and alcohol makes the powder which fires guns and serves as torpedo fuel, dynamite, nitro cotton, and other chemicals desperately needed by the American military. The chart below illustrates this point. Sugar is the second most needed resource for the war effort:

The Top 5 Resource Needed for World War II

Resource	Millions of Dollar needed for the War
Copper	732
Sugar	559
Rubber	431
Other Materials	370
Tin	282

As a result sugar was heavily rationed, along with coffee, tea, butter, and meat. As a result, many housewives had to drive around to several markets to obtain what they needed. This was also a problem since gasoline was also rationed. Barbara Drew describes the experience of having to cut back, “We could only buy a small amount of sugar. It was very difficult to get butter. That's when margarine started to become popular. It was dreadful. You had to put it in this white lard and let it melt and then you mixed it all up so that it became a rather ugly yellow color. And meat was very hard to get… You had to have friends in the right places. At that time, during the middle of World War II, markets opened up and sold horse meat. In Olneyville there was a market there that sold nothing but equine meat. I guess everybody tried it and it was pretty hard to take. It was so bloody and disagreeable to look at. I just couldn't eat it or give it to my family.” To combat the food shortage, women living on farms planted their own gardens. Soon, these “victory gardens” became commonplace in the cities as well.

Other items that women needed to ration were silk, nylon, rayon, cotton, and wool. All of these materials were in high demand because they made parachutes, aircraft and military clothing, tents, and even gunpowder bags. Although many women felt like Alma during the war, none of them gave up in their efforts. Ida Barrington voices the feelings of American women across the nation,

“I felt I was doing something for my country, even though it wasn't really going across or helping any individual, but by me being there I felt I was doing something...we were all working towards the same goal...hoping that the war would be over soon."

African-Americans in the War

Ove the years, African-American soldiers have been a core of America's armies. In World War II, particularly, there was a tremendous amount. Overr 2.5 million African Americans registered for the draft in World War II. Despite extensive discrimination and segregation, they met the challenge, persevered and served with distinction and honor.

THE US ARMY

About 3/4th of black soldiers served in the army. Although these soldiers had to live in segregated camps and were mainly used as combat support groups or labor battalions, they served exceptionally. Particularly, the all black 92nd Division and 761st Tank Battalion received merit for their heroic actions.

92nd Infantry Division

361st Tank Battalion

Over 12,000 decorations and citations were awarded to the 92nd Division, who were credited with knocking out several machine gun nests near Massa, Italy. The 761st received the Presidential Unit Citation for service between October 31, 1944 and May 6, 1945 by Jimmy Carter in 1978 "for extraordinary heroism in military operations against an armed enemy." The 761st Tank Battalion was first assigned to Patton’s army. At first, he was against this assignment and said that African-Americans were incapable of “thinking fast enough to fight in the armor”. Soon, he realized that he was very wrong. The all-Black 761st Tank Battalion fought 183 consecutive days with General George S. Patton's army in Europe and was credited with killing 6,266 enemy soldiers and capturing another 15,818. During the Battle of the Bulge, the 761st "entered combat with... conspicuous courage and success." By the end of 1944, Patton declared, “I have nothing but the best in my army. I don't care what color you are as long as you go up there and kill those Kraut son's-a-bitches." In April 1945, the 761st Battalion liberated the Nazi death camps at Buchenwald and Dachau, where they were greeted as heroes by the emaciated inmates. 10 soldiers were awarded Silver Stars and 38 Bronze Stars.

Staff Sergeant Ruben Rivers was even awarded a Medal of Honor. The US Army website describes Rivers’ heroics, “Though severely wounded in the leg, Sergeant Rivers refused medical treatment and evacuation, took command of another tank, and advanced with his company in Guebling the next day. Repeatedly refusing evacuation, Sergeant Rivers continued to direct his tank's fire at enemy positions through the morning of 19 November 1944…Sergeant Rivers, joined by another tank, opened fire on the enemy tanks, covering company A as they withdrew. While doing so, Sergeant River's tank was hit, killing him and wounding the crew.” Six other African-American WWII veterans were also awarded the Medal of Honor.

THE US NAVY

Over 150,000 African-Americans served in the US Navy. Just like the Army, everything was segregated and the black soldiers given small jobs such as tours of duty on land or around small, coastal harbors. Finally, in 1943 full sailing duties were granted to the USS Mason and the Submarine Chaser, the PC 1264, both all-black units. The PC 1264 was even assigned a black naval officer, another “first” for the Navy. This black naval officer was part of the “Golden Thirteen”. They were part of the sixteen black enlisted men who were summoned to Camp Robert Smalls, Great Lakes Training Station in Illinois. All sixteen had demonstrated top-notch leadership abilities as enlisted men. Seizing the moment, these young men worked as a team to complete their studies. During their officer candidate training, they compiled a class average of 3.89, a record that has yet to be broken. Although all passed the course, in March 1944, thirteen of the group made history when they became the U.S. Navy's first African-American officers on active duty. Twelve were commissioned as ensigns; the thirteenth was made a warrant officer, making up the “Golden Thirteen”

TOP ROW: John Walter Reagan, Jesse Walter Arbor, Dalton Louis Baugh, Frank Ellis Sublett
MIDDLE ROW: Graham Edward Martin, Charles Byrd Lear, Phillip George Barnes, Reginald E. Goodwin
BOTTOM ROW: James Edward Hair, Samuel Edward Barnes, George Clinton Cooper, William Sylvester White, Dennis Denmark Nelson

The warrant officer assigned to the Submarine Chaser was Charles Byrd Lear. Although he did not enjoy all the privileges that the other Caucasian officers did, he performed his job exceptionally well and was remembered for it. All of the “Golden Thirteen” wanted to show the world just how important African-Americans are to the war effort. Justice William Sylvester White died on February 25, 2004, one of the last to still be living. Paul Stillwell, author of "The Golden Thirteen: Recollections of the First Black Naval Officers” said, “He wanted the public to know of the significant contributions of African-Americans to the war effort,”

OTHER PARTS OF THE ARMY:

In 1942, the US Marine Corps ended the 167 year ban on including African-Americans among its troops. Records show that 17,000 African-American men served in the Marines, including James E. Stewart, the first black Marines pictured above. All of these men served well. The United States Air Force also enlisted the help of African-Americans. At the time, there were still laws prohibiting the training of black men by white soldiers. By 1941, due to some protest, the War Department allowed the formation of an all-black flight school at the Tuskegee Air Base. The base produced the first African American combat fighter pilots, and they became known as the Tuskegee Airmen of the 99th Pursuit Squadron. Out of this squadron came Colonel Benjamin O. Davis, Jr., son of the first African American General, Benjamin O. Davis, Sr. Colonel Davis was awarded the Silver Star for gallantry in combat. He was later promoted to general in 1965.

THE RADIO

Media was crucial in America in the act of bringing the story home and letting the American people know just how well or poorly we were doing in the war. Edward R. Murrow reflects that the job of a reporter is, “… enabling listeners to know facts- so far as they are ascertainable-and so to elucidate, illuminate, and explain facts and situations as fairly as possible to enable the listener to weigh and judge for himself ." The last part he said is very true: for the listener “to weigh and judge for himself.” All kinds of media affect a person, but each person takes the information given to them a different way. During World War II, this was especially evident. Let's focus on the role radio played in the war effort. As you can see from the graph above, the number of households owning radios went up during World War II. This spike in radio buying is directly linked to the war going on in Europe and the Pacific. Correspondents from the big radio stations in America spanned the globe and brought the news instantaneously into the homes of the American people. When Pearl Harbor was bombed on December 7, 1941 , the American people knew about it the same day. Below is a radio clip of an interruption of the radio programming to present the special bulletin about Pearl Harbor :

This kind of broadcasting continued throughout the war. On June 5, 1944 (otherwise known as D Day), people were able to hear an account of the actual invasion from George Hicks, London Bureau Chief for the Blue Network. Hicks' recording has been called by The New York World Telegram as "the greatest recording yet to come out of the war." Listen to the second part of his recording below (which begins with “We have yet to see a German plane”, and experience the invasion for yourself:

These radio broadcasts were key to America 's perceptions of the war. In 1943, Great Britain started regular bombing runs to Berlin. The bombers were the English 4 engine bomber, Lancasters. Though there were many that never returned, having been shot down, many got through dropping their bombs and incendiaries and returning to English soil. On learning about this Edward R. Murrow, chief war correspondent for CBS, wanting some way of getting a look at the war front begged a ride on one bombing run on the night of December 2nd, 1943 . The next day he broadcast back to America his experiences on the run. The piece became well-known as "Orchestrated Hell" and was a great piece on the brave men who regularly faced death to achieve victory:

Surprise, Victory and Danger: the three main themes in the radio broadcasts you heard above. After hearing these kinds of broadcasts, the American people became more and more patriotic. Public opinion in favor of the war had gone up:

If the soldiers knew that their loved ones were behind them, they are able to fight better, something that is proven when we win World War II on August 15, 1945 . Below is a montage of radio clips celebrating “Victory in Japan ” Day:

The American Culture: the strengths that we drew upon to achieve success in World War II