U N I T 4 L E S S O N 4

THE HOME FRONT AND MINORITIES IN THE WAR

VOCABULARY

• WACs• Rosie the Riveter • 442nd Regimental Combat team• Tuskegee Airmen• Code Talkers• Bracero Program• War Bonds

WOMEN

WOMEN

• Women found jobs in heavy industry• Non traditional jobs for women • 3/4ths were married• 60% older than 35• Iconic Image: Rosie the Riveter• Women expected to step aside from jobs when

men came home• Child care changed: $50 billion spent by gov’t for

child care for working mom

A. PHILIP RANDOLPH

A. PHILIP RANDOLPH

• Randolph asserted African Americans would no longer accept 2nd class citizenship status• End discrimination• End segregation • FDR signed EO 8802 : fair hiring practices in any

job funded by gov’t money • Est: Fair Employment Practices Committee to

enforce

EXECUTIVE ORDER 8802

TUSKEGEE AIRMEN

• Played key role in the camapign to bomb Germany• 1,500 missions in Europe• Did not lose a single bomber• Allies bomber crews suffered 20% causality rate

TUSKEGEE AIRMEN

HONORING OUR HEROES

• President George W. Bush signed a Presidential Proclamation on July 23 proclaiming July 26, 2008 as the 60th anniversary of the integration of the U.S. Armed Forces.  Joining him were a number of Tuskegee Airmen, including Col. Charles McGee (third from left), who serves on the board of the Red Tail Project.  Regrettably, the other Airmen were not identified.  Also in the group were Joint Chiefs Chairman Admiral Michael Mullen to Col. McGee's left, and Dept. of Veterans Affairs Secretary James Peake, far right. 

KOREMATSU V. UNITED STATES

• Landmark Supreme Court case• Elements of case:• Executive order 9066• Internment• 1944 • Upheld the government’s right to intern citizens during

WII

EXECUTIVE ORDER 9066

JAPANESE- AMERICANS

•442nd Regimental Combat Team•Nisei •Most decorated military unit in American history•Part of D Day invasion

442ND REGIMENTAL COMBAT TEAM “GO FOR BROKE”

60TH ANNIVERSARY OF THE LIBERATION OF FRANCE

CODE TALKERS

• Navajo Indians• Unique language to their tribe• Unbreakable• Code talkers strategically placed in units to talk to

each other • Nazi and Japanese could not break their “code”

CODE TALKERS

HTTP://WWW.ARMY.MIL/AMERICANINDIANS/SOLDIERSHONORED/A_CODETALKERS.HTML

CODE TALKERS NOW

BRACERO PROGRAM

BRACERO PROGRAM

• Mexican labor to work on American farms• Hundreds of thousands migrated to U.S.• Initiated decades of migratory labor to the West

ZOOT SUIT RIOTS

ZOOT SUITS

• Few migrants knew English• Many lived in

slums• LA many dressed in

“zoot suits”• June ‘43 off duty

sailors attacked zoot suiters

• Police arrested zoot suit victims• Sig: evidence of

long brewing racial tensions

WAR BONDS

SUPPORTING WAR EFFORT

• National debt • $42 billion to $269

billion in 6 years• To raise funds:• 5% tax increase on

workers• Millions bought war

bonds

IWO JIMA – SEMPER FI

TYPES

• *Series E,F,G• *Defend Bonds• *Baby Bonds• *Bond Holders• *Stamps

OWI – OFFICE OF WAR INFORMATION

• boost morale• propaganda • Posters, news ads, radio (Disney)