After Pearl Harbor … five (5) million men volunteered for military service AND … eventually the Selective Service System provided another ten (10) million soldiers “A blue star in a home’s window meant someone from that family was in the war” “A gold star meant someone in the family had died in the war effort” Women in the Armed Forces Women’s Auxiliary Corps (WACS)  female army volunteers served in noncombat positions  nurses, ambulance drivers, radio operators, electricians, and pilots Women Accepted for Volunteer Emergency Service (WAVES)  female noncombat volunteers made up 2 ½ percent of the Navy

AFRICAN AMERICANS “Why die for democracy in some foreign country when we don’t even have it here?” “Here lies a black man killed fighting a yellow man for the protection of a white man.”  one million African Americans served in segregated units  Tuskegee Airmen ASIAN AMERICANS  thousands of Chinese and Japanese Americans joined armed forces  Japanese Americans served as spies and interpreters  442nd regiment was known as “go for broke” regiment NATIVE AMERICANS  thousands of native Americans enlisted, including women  Navajo “code talkers” were essential for wartime communications

How did Americans get their news on the WAR ? NEWSPAPERS  Ernie Pyle News reels Radio broadcasts  Edward R. Murrow telegrams letters click radio to hear an actual WWII radio broadcast click projector to see a clip from an actual WWII news reel Propaganda  using media to promote a point of view

War Production Board  decided which companies would convert to wartime production  rationed fuel and materials vital to the war effort, such as gas, metals, rubber, plastic collected and recycled important materials  people used ration books and stamps to purchase rationed items “victory gardens” “car sharing clubs” New Work Opportunities for Some Groups  women “Rosie the Riveter”  minorities population shift to northern cities

Shhhhh … be quiet. Americans were also expected to keep quiet about war related work and information

Even Dr. Seuss was involved in the war effort …

Americans helped offset the cost of the war by purchasing War Bonds 8 out of every 13 Americans purchased bonds, raising over 185 billion dollars for the war

Japanese Internment  FDR signs order in 1942 requiring removal of Japanese Americans California, Washington, Oregon, Arizona, Hawaii recommended by military 110,000 Japanese Americans relocated to 10 relocation centers 2/3 of these were Nisei or American-born Japanese  Camp Manzanar  Korematsu v. United States  restitutions eventually paid in 1990

FDR was elected President a record four times!  FDR died shortly before V-E Day in April 1945 he changed the role of federal government, led country through WWII, appointed 1 st female cabinet member, contributed to advances for minorities, and helped plan the United Nations  Vice President Harry S Truman sworn in as 33 rd president of the United States