Ethnic groups at WWII Objective: Evaluate the roles of Minorities and their contributions to WWII for America Std 11.7.3.

Ethnic groups at WWII

Objective:

Evaluate the roles of Minorities and their contributions to WWII for

America

Std 11.7.3

Importance

• World War I and World War II brought about changes for minorities and women because these conflicts led to– the creation of new job opportunities– the passage of the Equal Rights Amendment– a greater number of high-level management

positions– greater integration in housing and schools

throughout the nation

442nd

Objective:

Evaluate the roles of Minorities and their contributions to WWII for

America

Std 11.7.3

442nd Infantry Combat Group

• Made up of Japanese Americans Nisei

• Many had families that were interned

• Mainly fought in Europe

• Most decorated battalion in WWII

• Average height was 5’4”

Decorations - 100th Infantry Battalion and The 442nd RCT

8 Major campaigns in Europe

7 Presidential Unit Citations

9,486 Casualties (Purple Hearts)

18,143 Individual decorations including:

20 Congressional Medals of Honor

52 Distinguished Service Crosses

1 Distinguished Service Medal

560Silver Stars, with 28 Oak Leaf Clusters in lieu of second

Silver Star Awards

22 Legion of Merit Medals

4,000 Bronze Stars

1,200 Oak Leaf Clusters representing second

Bronze Stars

15 Soldier's Medals

12French Croix de Guerre with two Palms representing second awards

2 Italian Crosses for Military Merit

2 Italian Medals for Military Valor

The 442nd helped liberate the concentration camp at Dachau.

The 442nd helped liberate the “Lost Battalion” in Germany. They saved more than a hundred Americans at a cost of 120 killed and 680 wounded of their own unit.

Monument dedicated to the 442nd in Los Angeles, Ca.

Italy Fort Benning, Ga

U.S. Senator (Hawaii) Daniel Inouye, a member of the 442nd. Bravely led his men. Grenade injury led to amputation of his arm.

Tuskegee

Objective:

Evaluate the roles of Minorities and their contributions to WWII for

America

Std 11.7.3

The Tuskegee Airmen

• The first black pilots• Impressive fighting

record• Helped lessen the

racism directed towards African-Americans

The Tuskegee Airmen

• They were trained by Ben O. Davis

• Davis was the first African American graduate at West Point, an exclusive military college

• During his four years there, he never had a roommate, and no one ever spoke to him unless they had to do so because of school

The Tuskegee Airmen

• At the time he graduated, the U.S. Military had two African-American officers, Benjamin O. Davis Sr. (his father) and Benjamin O. Davis Jr.

• Before the beginning of WWII, President Roosevelt, in response to public pressure for greater black participation in the military as war approached, ordered the War Department to create a black flying unit

• Davis was one of the first trained

The Tuskegee Airmen

• His military decorations included the Air Force Dusinguished Service Medal, Army Distinguished Service Medal, Silver Star, Legion of Merit, Distinguished Flying Cross, Air Medal,

Benjamin O. Davis paved the way for other African-Americans in the

military and in politics

The Tuskegee Airmen

• The Training of the Tuskegee Airmen began in June 1941

• They overcame a great deal of discrimination and racism to do an amzing job

• Their accomplishments included: a destroyer sunk only by machine gun fire, and numerous fuel dumps, trucks and trains.

The Tuskegee Airmen

• They flew more than 15,000 sorties and 1500 missions. The unit received recognition through official channels, and won two Presidential Unit Citations, 744 Air Medals, 150 Distinguished Flying Crosses, 14 Bronze Stars, and several Silver Stars.

The Tuskegee Airmen

• In all, 992 pilots were trained in Tuskegee from 1940 to 1946. About 450 deployed overseas and 150 lost their lives in training or combat.

• Never lost a bomber to enemy fire!!!

The Tuskegee Airmen and the First Lady

• First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt flew for an hour with one of the African-American instructors

• She also corresponded with one of the airmen throughout the war

• She personally encouraged her husband to use them to their full potential

Women

Objective:

Evaluate the roles of Minorities and their contributions to WWII for

America

Std 11.7.3

• Jackie Cochran was a very

famous female pilot who had already set several flying records and won many air races

• She wrote Mrs. Roosevelt a letter suggesting that female pilots could provide much help in war times. By taking over non-combat duties, more male pilots could be relieved for the active fighting.

First Lady, Eleanor Roosevelt

Jacqueline "Jackie" Cochran

The WASP’s - Women Airforce Service Pilots

Women Airforce Service Pilots • In May 1940, another

women pilot, Nancy Harkness Love, made a similar proposal to the Army’s Air Corps Ferrying Command.

• She suggested that about 50 very experienced female flyers could ferry planes for the Army from factories to air bases to relieve male pilots of this duty.

Nancy Harkness Love

• Jackie Cochran was able to convince an officer to let her help deliver a plane to England

• In June 1941, Jackie Cochran was the first woman allowed to fly a military aircraft across the Atlantic (although she was not allowed to handle the takeoff and landing). 

• She ended up staying an England, volunteering for the British Air Transport Auxiliary

• Both Love and Cochran ended up running Air programs for the U.S. Military

WAC-Women’s Auxiliary Corps

• Officially not a part of the Army- at first

• They took over non-violent jobs to free up men

• Their job list included adjutant, administrative, bombing records, civilian classification, cryptography, engineering exchange, fiscal and budget, information and filter center, insurance, intelligence, laundry management, legal, mess, meteorology, message center, motion picture, motor transport, music, personnel, photography, postal, public relation registrar, ration, signal officer, special services, statistical, school secretary and supply.

More than 200,000 women worked more than 239 different jobs!

Watch the Dude check out the female soldier.

Navajo

Objective:

Evaluate the roles of Minorities and their contributions to WWII for

America

Std 11.7.3

Navajo Code talkers

• During war, it is important for commanders to communicate with each other

• Secure and secret communication systems were slow and expensive

• WWI vet, Philip Johnson, stumbled upon the idea that Navajo’s could be secret messengers

Navajo Code talkers• The idea came to him while

reading a newspaper article about NA participation during WWII

• He grew up on a Navajo Reservation and was fluent in their language and culture

• The Navajo language does not have an alphabet or symbols

• It is also complex and very difficult to learn

• It was estimated that fewer than 30 non-Navajo people in the world were familiar with the language

Navajo Code talkers• He took his idea to the

military, where it was quickly welcomed

• A demonstration was set up. A 3 sentence code was transmitted and decoded in 20 seconds. It would have taken a machine a half hour to do the same task

• 29 Navajos were recruited• These recruits were

successful, hundreds more were requested

• An estimated 400 code talkers worked in the Pacific Campaign

Navajo Code talkers• During the battle of Iwo Jima,

six code talkers transmitted 800 messages over two days, all without error

• A major, who was at the battle, later stated that if it were not for the code talkers, the Marines may have been defeated at Iwo Jima

A captured Navajo soldier was asked by the Japanese to interpret the code. Although he understood some of the words they were using, it didn’t make any sense to him.

Navajo Code talkers• The code talkers activities were

classified until 1968• They have been honored several

times• In 1992, they were honored at a

ceremony in the Pentagon. A permanent exhibit is set up there.

• In 2001, President Bush honored them at a White House ceremony

• The original 29 were given gold medals and the others were given silver medals

• They also have a statue honoring their contributions in Phoenix Arizona

Navajo Code

English: America Attack Submarine

Navajo: Ne-ha-mah al-ta-je-jay besh-lo

Literal: Our mother attack iron fish

Bracero

Objective:

Evaluate the roles of Minorities and their contributions to WWII for

America

Std 11.7.3

Mexicans and Mexican Americans

Contributions of Mexicans and Mexican Americans in WWII

• More than 300,000 Mexican Americans served in the U.S. Army during WWII

• More than 17,000 Mexicans and Mexican Americans worked in the Los Angeles shipyards during WWII

The Bracero Program

• More than 200,000 Mexicans came to the U.S. to work as farmers – they replaced the labor shortage due to the war

• Unfortunately, they suffered through terrible working conditions and low wages. Many companies cheated them out of a portion of their wages.

Importance

• World War I and World War II brought about changes for minorities and women because these conflicts led to– the creation of new job opportunities– the passage of the Equal Rights Amendment– a greater number of high-level management

positions– greater integration in housing and schools

throughout the nation

Closure

• The experiences of African Americans serving in the military forces during World War II influenced their postwar decision to– renew support for the principle of separate but

equal– join the armed forces in record numbers– increase efforts to end racial discrimination– move back to the rural south

Closure

• With respect to finding better jobs, the war years marked a period of ___ for African Americans.– decline– advance– stagnation– uncertainty

Closure• Which statement best describes the contribution

made by many Navajo soldiers toward winning the war in the Pacific?– They became kamikazes, suicide pilots, intentionally

crashing planes into Japanese ships.– They served as code talkers, using the Navajo

language for military communications.– They helped develop the Manhattan Project - a secret

program to build an atomic bomb.– They used Navajo technology for island hopping,

using captured islands as a base.

Closure• Which description best defines the Tuskegee

Airmen?– Mexican Americans who volunteered for service

and trained in Tuskegee, Alabama– an elite troop of fliers from Tuskegee, Alabama,

trained for the most dangerous missions– African-American pilots who trained at Tuskegee,

Alabama, and fought bravely overseas– African-American pilots, trained at Tuskegee,

Alabama, who never saw action overseas