America in World War II Mobilization & The Home Front The North African Campaign

Unemployment in the United States Unemployment at the peak of the Depression? 25% Unemployment by 1945? 1.9% Iron & steel workers in the 1940s Unemployed during the 1930s

The “Sleeping Giant” Needs to be addressed 1. Raise an army & supply it 2. Outthink the enemy 3. Make the nation “safe”

The “Sleeping Giant” Raising an Army US Army before WWII? 180,000 Total size of military by 1945? 15 million Women? 150,000 in the Women’s Army Auxiliary 250,000 across all branches Minorities? 1+ million African Americans Asian citizens and Native Americans served in the Pacific as spies or “windtalkers”

The “Sleeping Giant” Supplying the Military In 1944, the United States was on average producing: One plane every five minutes One ship everyday How did the nation afford this? Bonds & Taxes

The “Sleeping Giant” Outthinking the Enemy Radar & Sonar M1 Garand Breaking Enigma & Ultra And many more… Office of Scientific Research & Development Plutonium and Uranium Discoveries

Making the Nation “Safe” Japanese Internment in the United States George Yamamoto & the Incident at Great Meadows

Japanese Internment “A Jap is a Jap. It makes no difference whether he is an American citizen or not.” Gen. John L. DeWitt 127,000 Issei & Nisei interned in : Ruled constitutionally permissible due to the war.

George Yamamoto & Great Meadows, New Jersey George Yamamoto Torazo Matsumoto Kazumasa “Frank” Kitagawa Katsuji “Edward” Taniguchi Ted Miyamura Gila Relocation Center Phoenix, AZ to… Edward Kowalick’s Farm Great Meadows, NJ

Mr. Kowalick was fond of Mr. Yamamoto as he “saved him time”. “Mr. Yamamoto went to work cleaning up the cabin, unpacking his bedroll, caulking the windows and mending the latch on the front door… he sat down and wrote his family a letter. He told them he had had wonderful luck, that he had found a good place and would be sending for them soon.” Report in LIFE Magazine by Faith Fair

“But the telephones in Great Meadows were already ringing. ‘A Jap is in town. Saw him with my own eyes. Got slant eyes and looks means.’ There were tales of arson and rape. The farmers had heard that Japanese could produce celery cheaper than Americans. There was talk of how their children would soon be sitting next to yellow children in school.” Sign placed in the front of Mr. Kowalick’s farm

What Happened to Mr. Yamamoto?

The War in Steps

War in North Africa WWII From Space (46:00)