America after WWII: What does this story say about the success of the “Double-V” Campaign? “It was in the state of Georgia, in 1946, that a young Negro veteran named Maceo Snipes learned that by the Supreme Court ruling he had a right to vote. No Negro had voted in his county since Reconstruction, but Maceo Snipes went down and registered. The following morning he was sitting on his porch and a white man came up and killed him with a shotgun. His funeral was held the next day and in the midst of the funeral oration, Maceo’s mother rose and moved up through the crowd, up to his coffin, where they waited to lower it into the earth. And she asked her second son to come forth. He was 17. And she said to him, ‘Put your hand on this coffin, and swear on the body of your brother than when you get to be 21, you’re going down to the courthouse to do what he did — to vote.’ ” - Henry Wallace (Campaign for presidency) - “Radio Address,” September, 1948

America after WWII, the 1950’s …

Operation Torch (1) Meant to attack the European periphery, - 8 Nov. 1942 (1) Meant to attack the European periphery, (2) Aid the British in securing the Suez Canal, and (3) Give U.S. troops some experience

Casablanca Conference - Jan. 14 to 24, 1943 [1] Ground invasion of Western Europe is delayed a year [2] Aerial bombing of Germany to begin [3] Policy of “Unconditional Surrender” established [4] No separate agreements

Strategic Bombing of Germany * Between Jan., 1943 to May, 1945, it is decided to intensify strategic bombing of Germany for three reasons: - [1] Destroy German morale - [2] Destroy German production capacity - [3] Soften Germany for possible invasion of Western Europe

Western European Theater

“Atlantic Wall” - Extensive German fortifications

LCVP – “Higgins Boats”

Operation Overlord – “D-Day” * Pre-Invasion Strategy & Considerations: - “Operation Fortitude” (Bodyguard) (the decoy) - Weather considerations - Paratroopers dropped night before - Aerial attacks on German defenses - Warships bomb German defenses from the sea

* Strategy: - “Operation Overlord” (Neptune)

Operation Overlord (Neptune) – “D-Day” * Western European Invasion Purpose: open-up a third front and put the Axis Powers (Germany really) on the defensive

* Omaha Beach: * Size of force: * Terrain: - Normandy landing was the largest seaborne invasion in history

** In this situation, what would you do?

Operation Overlord – “D-Day” * D-Day Objective: By the end of the day, the forces were to have established a bridgehead five miles (8 km) deep

Omaha Beach Recreation

Omaha Beach Today