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The Department of Agriculture had transferred over 350,000 acres to the War Department. New bases such as the Naval Air Station in Jacksonville, Florida, were built, and existing ones such as Eglin Air Force Base were expanded. Many recruits lived in tents rather than barracks, carried sticks representing guns, and practiced maneuvers with trucks labeled “TANK.” Recruits came from all over the country, and training together created tight relationships among the troops. -
Cities with war industries had to find room for the thousands of arriving workers. Tent cities and parks filled with tiny trailers sprang up. Congress authorized $150 million for housing in 1940
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The air force created its first African American unit, the 99th Pursuit Squadron. Trained in Tuskegee, Alabama, the pilots became known as the Tuskegee Airmen. Commanded by Lt. Colonel Benjamin O. Davis, Jr., the squadron helped win the Battle of Anzio in Italy. More than one and a half million African Americans served in the United States military forces during World War II. They fought in the Pacific, Mediterranean, and European war zones, including the Battle of the Bulge, the D-Day invasion. -
In 1942 President Roosevelt created the Office of War Information (OWI). The OWI’s role was to improve the public’s understanding of the war and to act as a liaison office with the various media. The OWI established detailed guidelines for filmmakers, including a set of questions to be considered before making a movie, such as, “Will this picture help win the war?”
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Much had already been done to prepare the economy for war, but it was still only partially mobilized. The attack on Pearl Harbor changed everything. By the summer of 1942, almost all major industries and some 200,000 companies had converted to war production. Together they made the nation’s wartime “miracle” possible.
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Roosevelt issued Executive Order 8802, which stated, “there shall be no discrimination in the employment of workers in defense industries or government because of race, creed, color, or national origin.” To enforce the order, he created the Fair Employment Practices Commission, the first federal civil rights agency since Reconstruction.
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By creating the Women’s Army Auxiliary Corps (WAAC). It appointed War Department official Oveta Culp Hobby as WAAC’s first director. Many women were unhappy that WAAC was not part of the regular army, however. About a year later, the army replaced the WAAC with the Women’s Army Corps (WAC), and Hobby became a colonel. The coast guard, navy, and marines followed suit and set up women’s units. Another 68,000 women served as nurses in the army and navy. -
On February 19, 1942, President Roosevelt signed Executive Order 9066 allowing the War Department to declare any part of the United States a military zone and to remove people from that zone as needed. He must have felt justified four days later when a Japanese submarine surfaced north of Santa Barbara, California, and shelled an oil refinery. Most of the West Coast was declared a military zone, and people of Japanese ancestry were evacuated to 10 internment camps farther inland.
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The wartime economy also benefited Mexicans. In 1942, the federal government arranged for Mexican farmworkers to help harvest crops in the Southwest as part of the Bracero Program, which continued until 1964. More than 200,000 Mexicans came to work during the war. Many also helped build and maintain railroads. Migrant workers thus became important to the Southwest’s economic system.
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Racial violence erupted in Detroit on Sunday, June 20, 1943. Fighting between white and African American teens triggered a citywide riot that left 25 African Americans and 9 whites dead. Despite their sacrifices overseas, they still struggled to get hired for well-paying jobs, encountered segregation, and endured targeted brutality, especially while wearing their military uniforms. Black veterans realized that being treated as equals was still a matter society hadn’t resolved.