Transcript Slide 1

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
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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
560
Silver 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
12
French 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 AfricanAmericans
• 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
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
The WASP’s - Women
Airforce Service Pilots
• Jackie Cochran was a very
famous female pilot who
had already set several
flying records and won
Jacqueline "Jackie" Cochran
many air races
• She wrote Mrs. Roosevelt
a letter suggesting that
female pilots could
provide much help in war
times. By taking over noncombat duties, more male
pilots could be relieved for
the active fighting.
First Lady, Eleanor Roosevelt
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
• Officially not a part of the Armyat 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.
WAC-Women’s
Auxiliary Corps
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