1. Mobilizing for Defense
Chapter 17 Section 1
Mobilizing for Defense

2. Selective Service & the GI
GI: Government Issue stamped on everything
5M Eager recruits wanted to be heroes
Draft provides 10M more
8 weeks basic training
Bulk of armed forces were white males who were drafted/volunteered

3. Expanding the Military / Women
Marshall (Army Chief of Staff General) pushed for WAAC/ WAC or Women’s Auxiliary Army Corp because of personnel shortages
Official status & salary
Nurses, ambulance drivers, radio operators, electricians, pilots
No direct combat

4. Expanding the Military
(WAVES): Women Accepted for Volunteer Emergency Service in the Navy
(WASPS): Women Air Force Service Pilots

5. Recruiting & Discrimination Minorities
Why die for democracy abroad when we don’t have it here

6. Mexican Americans Minorities
300,000 join armed forces
Suffered 1/5 of LA’s city’s wartime casualties
Fought in many crucial battles
Most enlisted in Army
Many participated in D-day
Multilingual/good interpreters

7. African Americans Minorities
1 million served in military
Segregated units & limited to non-combat roles
Saw combat in April 1943
92 Infantry Division or Buffalo Soldiers in bloody Italian campaign of
Tuskegee Airmen
Not allowed to join air force or marines

8. African Americans Minorities
Red Cross separated blood
Men shortages toward end of war integrated Af. Am soldiers

9. Asian Americans Minorities
13000 Chinese joined armed forces
33000 Japanese joined armed forces
Spies & interpreters in the Pacific
442nd Regimental Combat Team in Italy & France became most decorated unit in the war
Internment camps in the United States

10. Native Americans Minorities
25000 enlisted including 800 women
Navaho Code Talkers
Denied right to vote in 3 states

11. Industrial Response Manufacturing
Auto plants convert to tanks, planes, boats and command cars
Mechanical Pencil Plant makes bomb parts
Bedspread co. made mosquito netting
Kaiser and Liberty Ship (4 to 14 days)
Coca-Cola 5 cents available to every soldier

12. Labor’s Contribution Manufacturing
18M workers working in defense plants
6M were women
Women did great job & earn 60% of men
2M minority workers
FDR passed nondiscrimination law in defense plants to keep Randolph & Af Am from marching on Washington

13. Hollywood Entertainment Industry
War-oriented propaganda films
U.S. movies make Soviets heroes
Later produces escape films like musicals and romances

14. Scientists Office of Scientific Research & Dev
FDR in 1941 created OSRD or Office of Scientific Research & Development spurred improvements in radar, sonar, pesticides, penicillin
Advisory Committee & Einstein give way to Manhattan Project & development of atom bomb

15. Federal Government Control Office of Price Administration
Little production of consumer products which meant big demand and possible price increases
OPA or Office of Price Adm.: fought inflation by freezing prices on most goods
Fed gov. raises taxes / less to spend
Americans buy war bonds

16. Federal Government Control War Production Board
WPB or War Production Board: who will make what, how many, by when & will get x amounts of material
Nationwide drives to recycle
Rationing or fixed allotment of goods
Coupon books for meat, sugar, coffee & gas
People do as asked for war effort

17. Federal Government Control
Secretary of State Stimson & cost plus system: Government paid all development & production costs on anything a company made for the war
One-dollar a year men to decide on war contracts
Deficit spending

18. Rationing Run by OPA Fixed allotment of goods
Coupon Books for meat, shoes, sugar, coffee & gas
Meets with large amount of acceptance but the black market did exist