Chapter 14Part 1 of 3

The Beginnings of US Involvment

Operation Barborosa

MOSCOW

The US is now in the War…This changes everything….• US does not have a huge

military at this point…

• FDR said “We haven’t got the Navy to fight in both the Atlantic and Pacific…We will have to build up the Navy and Air Force and that will mean we will have to take a good many defeats before we can have a victory.”

No military yet…But we had a HUGE industrial factory

system…

• Churchill recognized the power of the American industrial system:

“Once the fire is lighted under [America] there is no limit to the power it can generate.”

Henry StimsonUS Secretary of War• “If you are going to try and

go to war, or to prepare for war, in a capitalist country, you have got to let business make money out of the process or businesses won’t work.”

SO WHAT DOES THE US GOVERNMENT DO?

• The old system of companies bidding for war contracts was too slow

• US put in the cost-plus system – the government agreed to pay the company the costs to make the product plus a percentage for profit

• Speedy production meant more profit• Very costly for US government, but very

successful for US military

American Industry • The industry and production of the U.S. quickly

changed to serve the war needs.• Automobile factories stopped making cars and

started making war materials:1. Tanks 4. Rifles2. Trucks 5. Mines3. Jeeps 6. Helmets

American Industry part 2• Henry Ford began using his assembly line to make B-

24 bombers. This airplane became known as “the Liberator.”

• A Liberty ship was a basic cargo ship made in mass production. These boats were welded together rather than riveted.

• When war began it took 244 days to make a Liberty ship…by the end of the war it took only 41 days

• The War Production Board was established to set prices and control distribution.

Ford Motor Company B-12’s

Liberty Ships – about 3,000 of these were made during WWII

Building an Army• Once someone was selected for the army, there was

a process period before being sent to war.1. Drafted or signed up2. Given exams and shots for small pox3. Issued uniforms and equipment4. Sent to basic training for 8 weeks5. Given deployment orders

• In basic training, soldiers were taught how to fight, handle weapons, read maps, etc.

African Americans and Women get involved

• African Americans were allowed to serve in the military but had separate facilities.

• One of the most famous African American units was the Tuskegee Airmen. This was the 99th Pursuit Squadron that trained in Tuskegee Alabama.

• Congress allowed women to serve in the military in 1942. Many women served as secretaries and nurses which allowed more men to serve in combat.

Tuskegee Airmen

Tuskegee Airmen in Italy

Japan invades the Philippines

• Admiral Chester Nimitz was the commander of the U.S. Navy in the Pacific.

• General Douglas MacArthur was the commander of the Philippines.

• FDR ordered MacArthur to evacuate which allowed for a Japanese victory.

• 78,000 prisoners of war (POW) were forced to march 65 miles to a Japanese prison camp. This became known as the Bataan Death March.

General McArthur

Route of the Bataan Death March

The Doolittle Raid• When Japan attacked Pearl Harbor, U.S. aircraft carriers

were not there.• FDR decided to use these carriers on a surprise attack

to bomb Tokyo.• Colonel James Doolittle was placed in charge of

training pilots to fly a bombing mission from the carriers to Tokyo.

• The mission was detected by the Japanese and had to take off early. After reaching their target, some of the planes crashed before reaching a safe landing in China.

• 71 of 80 men survived the bombing mission. • 8 men were captured by Japanese, 3 were beheaded

Admirable Doolittle on the raid?

“The Japanese people had been told they were invulnerable ... An attack on the Japanese homeland would cause confusion in the minds of the Japanese people and sow doubt about the reliability of their leaders. There was a second, and equally important, psychological reason for this attack ... Americans badly needed a morale boost.”

Doolittle (2nd from left) and crew

Doolittle wires Japanese medals to bombs with “return to sender”

Doolittle’s Crew with Chinese officials after landing of attack