United States at War!!!

United States at War!!!

Mobilizing for Defense  Remember Pearl Harbor became a rally cry for the US  Tons of eager young Americans stormed recruiting offices  5 million volunteered for service however it would not be enough for a two front war

Mobilizing for Defense  Selective Service System which expanded draft would eventually provide another 10 million soldiers  8 weeks of basic training  Consisted of how to stand at attention, march, handle a rifle and follow orders

Expanding the Military  Army Chief of Staff General George Marshall pushed for a Woman's Auxiliary Army Corps  Women could serve in noncombat positions  Some in Congress opposed it however it became law on May 15,1942  Worked as nurses, ambulance drivers, radio operators etc (anything not involving combat)

Discrimination  African Americans, Native Americans, Mexican Americans and Asian Americans all suffered  Racially segregated neighborhoods and denial of basic rights  “Why fight for democracy somewhere else when you do not have it here”

Contributions  300,000 Mexican Americans joined the armed    

forces About 1 million African American soldiers though most would not see a lot of combat till end of war 13,000 Chinese volunteered or about 1 in every 5 adults 33,000 Japanese volunteered 25,000 Native Americans volunteered including 800 women… some said if all volunteered like the Indians we would not need draft

Production Time  Switch from consumer goods to war goods  Last car rolled off line in Feb 1942  Factories turned to all our war machines

War Production  1944 18 Million working in war factories more then three times in 1941  6 million of the new workers were women  African Americans still suffered discrimination and if hired were put in lower jobs

Philip Randolph  Called on march to Washington to end discrimination  President was shocked about number of people he would bring  Knew he could not feed them all  FDR issued a order to call on equaility