What Societal Changes Happened After World War Ii?

Poster that reads, â€œAre you doing all you can? The background is the stripes from the American flag; a pointing finger is broken through the poster. Every aspect of the lives of Americans was affected by the war. There was an increased wave of patriotism immediately following the bombing of Pearl Harbor. Americans from all walks of life participated in acts of patriotism that encapsulated the Us during the war.

The Office of War Information managed a campaign to encourage patriotism through a series of posters. Click on the link below for examples of posters from Earth War II from the U.S. National Archives and Records Administration.

World War 2 Posters

Newspapers and radio programming were geared toward reporting the war and keeping civilians informed. At that place were songs and movies produced with patriotic themes. Actors, singers, and other entertainers traveled across the country to entertain the troops.

Poster of a woman in military uniform. The caption at the bottom reads: This Is My War

Source: Poster, Poster 133, Minnesota Historical Social club

Men and women voluntarily enlisted into the armed forces in record numbers. By the end of the war, there were more than 12 million members of the United States Armed services. More than 350,000 women served in the U.Southward. military and more than 70,000 served as Army and Navy nurses.

In 1942, President Roosevelt created the Women's Auxiliary Forces, which included branches of the armed services specifically for women. The post-obit is a list of Women's Auxiliary Forces:

Women's Regular army Auxiliary Corps (WAC or WAAC)
Women Air Force Service Pilots (WASP)
Women Accepted for Volunteer Emergency Service (WAVES)
U.Due south. Coast Baby-sit Women's Reserve (nicknamed SPARS)

Women were not allowed to participate in armed conflict, and most women in the military served in roles that were considered traditional female jobs. These jobs included clerks, secretaries, and postal service sorters. These positions were of import to armed services functions considering they kept the period of advice moving. Women who served in the medical corps faced more danger because their work was usually performed closer to the front lines.

Although all Americans were working toward a victory in Earth War Two, many of the social issues that plagued the United States too followed American troops to war. At the beginning of the U.Southward. involvement in the war, the armed services was segregated. African-American troops lived, worked, and relaxed in split facilities. They had separate training and were then placed in separate military units, which were led by white officers.

African-American soldiers were frequently assigned to supply units instead of combat. Although these soldiers were discriminated against at home and in the armed forces, they proudly served their land in the state of war.

Portrait of Doris Miller in his naval uniform

An case of such bravery came on the day that the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor. Doris Miller was a mess attendant (cook) on the U.s.a.S.West Virginia at the time of the attack. Despite enemy strafing and bombing, Miller helped move his mortally wounded Captain to a place of greater rubber. He so manned and fired a machine gun against the attacking Japanese planes until ordered to leave the ship'southward bridge.

In the African-American community, Miller's actions were a source of pride. Miller connected his service in the navy until he died when the U.S.S.Liscome Bay was sunk by a Japanese submarine torpedo in 1943.

Source: Doris Miller, National Athenaeum

Image of Tuskegee Airmen studying a map

Source: [Photograph of several Tuskegee airmen at Ramitelli, Italy, March 1945], Tony Frisell, Library of Congress

During the time that near African American soldiers were relegated to duties such as cooking and cleaning, a heroic group of African Americans known equally the Tuskegee Airmen emerged. The Tuskegee Airmen was a grouping of specially trained African-American gainsay pilots who studied at Tuskegee Institute in Tuskegee, Alabama. The Tuskegee Airmen were assigned the task of escorting American bomber planes flying missions over enemy territory in Europe.

Image of Col. Benjamin O. Davis.

Source: Col. Benjamin O. Davis, air base at Rametti, Italy, Toni Frissell, Library of Congress

Colonel Benjamin O. Davis commanded the Tuskegee Airmen. In gainsay over Europe, they shot down more than 100 enemy planes without losing one of the American bombers they escorted. Davis would later become the first African-American full general in the U.S. Air Force.

While segregation persisted in the armed forces, some change came on the home front. A. Philip Randolph, an African-American labor leader, presented President Roosevelt with a list of grievances regarding the civil rights of African-American workers in the nation's defense manufacture. Randolph planned a huge protest march in Washington, D.C., if the demands were not met. Fearing such a protest would undermine wartime unity, President Roosevelt issued Executive Club 8802, banning discriminatory employment practices by Federal agencies and all unions and companies engaged in war-related work. Click on the link below to view a video about A. Philip Randolph and the March on Washington Movement.

Video segment. Assistance may be required.

Source: WWII & NYC: March on Washington, New York Historical Society, YouTube

Image of three Navajo Code Talkers seated in front of a tent

Source: Navajo Code Talkers, Bradipus, Wikimedia

A special grouping of American Indians called the Navajo Code Talkers was some other grouping that made an important contribution to World War Two. The Navajo Indians were recruited to transmit and receive secretly coded radio communications for the U.S. Marines. This was essential because enemy forces intercepted and listened to radio transmissions pertaining to Marine maneuvers and combat.

The Navajo Code Talkers developed a secret lawmaking of advice based on the Navajo linguistic communication. The enemy was unable to decode the Navajo language, thus making the Navajo Lawmaking Talkers essential to the success of the Allies during World State of war Two.

Over 500,000 Latinos (including 350,000 Mexican Americans) served in Earth State of war II. Unlike African Americans, they were non segregated into split up units. Latino soldiers who were fluent in Castilian served an of import function in fighting in the Philippines. Their knowledge of Spanish was invaluable when serving with Spanish speaking Filipinos. In Europe, Latino soldiers from the 36th Infantry Segmentation from Texas were among the first soldiers to land in Italia. Seventeen Medals of Honor have been awarded to Latinos for service during World State of war Two.

While women and minorities were making contributions to the war overseas and at abode, they still faced the obstacles of a country that continued to foster inequality and discrimination. Click on the epitome hotspots below to learn more near the struggles of some of the ethnic minorities in the U.s.a..