 Draft calls went out for more men to join the armed forces (due to the Selective Training and Service Act)  GI’s: American soldiers named after “Government Issue” stamps on clothing and equipment  Enlisted for patriotism, adventure, or need of a job

 1 million served but the military was segregated  Commanded by white officers  Jobs as cooks and laborers  Not sent into combat

 Hispanic Americans : 350,000 served; most decorated ethnic group  Native Americans: 25,000 served; used to create codes  Japanese Americans : 17,000 served; fought loyally despite US treatment  Women: 275,000 volunteered; clerks, typists, mechanics, photographers, and drivers

 Outcome of war depended on ability to produce bombers, tanks, uniforms, and other war materials  War Production Board (WPB): direct conversion of peacetime industries to wartime goods

 Great Arsenal of Democracy: what FDR called the US to become; needed to raise production of military materials  Employment: 15 million left work force to go to war; jobs easily filled by the unemployed

 Americans had money but rationed during the war  Some goods made unavailable to be used for wartime production  Rationing: limited consumption of goods (rubber, gas, butter, meat, cheese)  Victory Garden: Produced about 1/3 of country’s fresh vegetables

 Office of War Information encouraged women to join the work force (patriotic duty): 35% of civilian work force  Rosie the Riveter: image used to attract women to the work force

 African Americans: many migrated to the North; limited housing created urban ghettos  Mexican Americans: shipyard and aircraft factory jobs in the West; also worked as farm laborers  Japanese Americans: War Relocation Authority moved 110,00 to West Coast internment camps