Mobilizing for Defense Chapter 17 Section 1 Mobilizing for Defense

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

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

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

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

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

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 1943-1944 Tuskegee Airmen Not allowed to join air force or marines

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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