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The Draft
During 1941, the war was going on in full force in Europe and Asia. President Roosevelt signed the bill into law that September 16, establishing the first peacetime draft in American history. On October 16, 1940, regristration opened. More than 15 million American signed up. Each man was said to report to a draft. -
Lend-Lease Act
The Lend-Lease Act was a program under the USA to show that America help supply the Allies during the war. This didn't neccasary mean that the USA was in the war, just helping the other countries in aid. -
Pearl Harbor Attack
The attack that caused the USA to get completelty involved in the War was the attack on Pearl Harbor. Japan were the intruders. The Japanese most likely attack the USA because they thought they could take control over all Pacific islands. -
The U-Boat Peril
Germany made a plan to attack USA using boats. This battle led for about six months. U-Boats hovered along the East Coast. The Germans called this "Second Happy Hour" referring their success in the beginning of WW2. They lost fewer than 2 dozen boats during this period in the battle, while sinking almost 500 Allied ships and killing about 1,500 crew members and Merchant Marines. -
Japanese Americans
After the bombing of Pearl Harbor, the US named all of the Japanese population in America as "enemy aliens" President Roosevelt lated signed Executive Order 9066. This was for all Japanese Americans to leave the west coat immediatley. -
Manhattan Project
The USA was trying to find a way to catch up to Germany's advantages when it cames to technology and science. The US soon came up with a top-secret program called the Manhattan Project. It was set to be the first atomic bomb. The majority of the employees working for the Manhattan project had no idea what the program was about. The project's leader Robert Oppenheimer was investigated for being a communist. -
Enola Gay
The Enola Gay was bulit under a program code named, "Silverplate" to produce B-29 bombers specially modified for atomic bombing missions. The Enola Gay flew it's last combat mission on August 9, 1945 to scout weather over Kokura Arsenal, the primary target of Operation Centerboard II, the second bombing mission. -
Battle of Saipan
The Battle of Saipan had 15 warships wit at least 160,000 shells being fired. The were 71,000 allied soldiers and 31,000 japanese soldiers engaged in the battle. Over 20,000 civilians were dead after the battle was over, mostly from suicide and loose bullets. The battle last for 3 weeks. USA won the battle, with most Japanese soldiers dead. -
Battle of Iwo Jima
The Battle of Iwo Jima was a major fight between the United States Armed Forces and the Japanese. The USA had a goal to capture the whole island. The USA gained a victory. Japan was widely outnumbered. There were 22,000 japanese soldiers ready to fight, only 216 were taken prisoner. Some were captured and the rest was killed or assumed dead. -
Douglas MacArthur
Douglas MacArthur was the head of military operations against the Japanese in the Pacific. After the attack on Pearl Harbor, MacArthur was put in head charge of the Phillippines where he had to defend the islands against the attack of the Japanese. He failed that battle. Few western countries had been successful in defending themselves against Japanese attacks.
