Colorado and the Impact of… World War II

Overview Similarities and Differences Between the Two Great Wars Farming Manufacturing Mining People Military Others Hospitals Troops/Bases Tenth Mnt. Division Amache

The Different Wars Bases, “Forts”, “Camps” established Similarities Differences Farming production increases Land value goes up High Prices Push to grow more product Mining grows Mining slows Factories push production Volunteers and Draftees enter the war in mass numbers Population growth Bases, “Forts”, “Camps” established Millions of Government money is pumped into CO Ship building Amache Post war markets

Farming Land value sky rockets $40 per acre! High land prices= high product prices ( wheat, corn, sugar, beef) Greatest production in Colorado's History Not until 1949 will farm income start to slip Land that had been “conserved” during the Great Depression was once again ripped up and used for planting

Manufacturing Denver Arms plant Remington Co. and Henry Kaiser operated it as an arsenal Height of the plant 20,000 people worked there Rocky Mountain Arsenal Chemical weapons plant 15,000 people Converted and expanded existing facilities for war production Federal Government will pump $360 million in contacts into Colorado’s Economy Every industrial plant was touched by the war effort Fun Fact Colorado (land locked state) help build the hull sections for escort vehicles

Mining Growth and hard times happened Intense mining to find needed minerals for essential metals Federal government regulations of the industry Gold limitation L-280 Closed mines by not granting access to machine part or materials needed for production Gold and Silver mining slumps The Climax Molybdenum mine Stays the world’s largest producer of the product 1924-1946 Coal production makes a rebound in the 1940’s But then dropped off Colorado’s Natural gas market begins to bloom

People Personal Sacrifice Military During the War Personal Sacrifice 138,832 men and women enlisted or were drafted This is 1/8 of the entire state’s population Meaning that almost no family was not touched by the war Colorado will loose 2,700 lives 200,000 more people would move to Colorado during the war time 20,000 workers are employed in manufacture in cartridges, shells and fuses Urban growth Denver, Adams, Arapahoe and Jefferson counties grow to be the largest counties Mining towns decrease in population

Hospitals WWII Helping Veterans WWI All of those Hospital VA adds two more additional sites for Hospital Major Medical Center in Grand Junction (1949) Another in Denver (1951) Helping Veterans WWI Fitzsimons General Hospital Aurora Took WWI Vets Navy used Hotel Colorado Glenwood Springs for a convalescent hospital 1922 VA Fort Lyons on the Arkansas River

Military Bases Location is key Lowry Air Force Base Buckley Field Land locked and far enough away from each coast Lowry Air Force Base Buckley Field Peterson Air Field Pueblo Army Air Base La Junta Army Air Field Camp Hale Camp Carson Would eventually house German POWs

Tenth Mountain Division Camp Hale Special Training camp near Leadville High Colorado mnts. the best skiers trained there More than 14,000 men trained on skis Then the left to fight in the snowy mountains of Italy Some these men come back and stated ski resorts in our state!

Colorado Heroes Congressional Medal of Honor Pueblo Central HS student were given this honor Joseph P. Martinez His bravery in Alaska 23 when he was killed

Amache After Pearl Harbor Japanese Americans are removed from the west coast They had to leave everything behind They are placed into “relocation” camps There were around 10 different camps in the United States One was located in Colorado