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WORLD WAR
II
Part 2
BACKGROUND
The U.S. was basically unprepared
for war in December 1941. FDR
had used the PWA (Public Works
Administration) to build aircraft
carriers. We had instituted the first
peacetime draft and begun the
Good Neighbor policy in the
Western Hemisphere, but these
were only small steps.
THE WAR IN EUROPE
U.S. was in a 2 front war against
the Axis Powers (Germany, Italy
and Japan) from the beginning.
It was necessary to prioritize and
our #1 goal was to defeat Hitler in
Europe.
Timeline of Events in Europe
9/39-6/40 Nazi blitzkrieg
(lightening warfare) of Poland and
western Europe
Summer/Autumn 1940 – Battle of
Britain (Luftwaffe vs. Royal Air
Force (RAF)
–Hitler unable to gain air control
so postpones planned invasion.
–Believed Britain would “wither on
st
the vine” = 1 MISTAKE.
Britain was now led by Prime
Minister Winston Churchill.
US began policy of Lend-Lease
Aid
Spring 1941 – Successful German
invasion of Eastern Europe and
North Africa with Italian aid
Winston Churchill
 June
1941 – German invasion of USSR
Operation Barbarossa = 2nd MISTAKE
–U.S. offered Lend-Lease to USSR
–Early success first 6 months –
problems in winter
Scorched Earth policy denied
supplies
Train gauge not compatible
Split forces
Seasonal timing – bitter cold
Guerilla counteroffensive
Soviet Leader Joseph Stalin
Joseph Stalin
12/41
German/Italian declaration
rd
of war on U.S. = 3 MISTAKE
Spring/Summer 1942 –Nazis
regain momentum in USSR
9/42 Maximum Nazi Control –
Europe, North Africa,
Mediterranean Sea, Atlantic Ocean
and ready for Egypt; Britain and
Soviets barely hanging on
10/42
the Battle of El Alamein
–German Afrika Korps (tanks) led
by Field Marshall Erwin Rommel
(Desert Fox) v. British general
Bernard Montgomery
–Goals: oil fields and Suez Canal
Erwin Rommel
 11/42
TURNING POINT IN THE
WAR
–Invasion of North Africa-Operation
Torch; First time Allies attack; U.S.
General Dwight D. Eisenhower
(Ike) appointed supreme
commander; HQ = Casablanca –
invasion sites at Morocco and
Algeria; Field commander U.S.
General George S. Patton; German
surrender 5/43
Dwight D. Eisenhower
George S Patton
–Stalingrad has been under Nazi
siege since 9/42 – Russian
counterattack & force German
surrender 2/43; German losses =
1,000,000
 Spring 1943 – Allies control
Mediterranean & Battle of the Atlantic
begins; goal = control of shipping
lanes- convoys v. Wolfpack (German
subs); New technology = sonar
 6/43
– Patton takes Sicily
 7/43 – Russia slowly forcing Germans
out of USSR – Battle of Kursk
 9/43 – INVASION OF ITALY – Battle of
Anzio - Mussolini forced out, new
leader Badoglio promised easy
surrender – heavy American
casualties; victory in Rome 6/5/44 but
fighting continues on the peninsula
for some time
June
6, 1944 = D-Day –
Normandy Invasion = Operation
Overlord
–Ike as Supreme Commander of
Allied Forces in ETO (European
Theatre of Operations)
–Largest amphibious invasion ever
– jointly with British, Canadians,
and Free French
–Nazi Advantages = commanded
by Rommel & heavily fortified
and dug in
–Allied Advantages = access to
weather reports & air power
–5 Beaches = Gold, Juno, Sword,
Utah and Omaha
–War now just a matter of time –
Victory is assured
July
1944 – daily air bombing of
Germany & attempted
assassination of Hitler by German
Officers
August 1944 – liberation of Paris
by Patton and Free French under
Charles De Gaulle
12/44- 1/45 – Battle of the Bulge
in Belgium = last German
offensive
 3/45
– Invasion of Germany begins East
and West
 4/30/45 – Hitler and Eva Braun Hitler
(married 4/29/45) commit Suicide – both
took poison capsules & Hitler shot himself
in the head.
 Their bodies were partially cremated and
buried, later found by Russian soldiers,
taken and reburied in an unmarked grave
in Magdeburg, Germany. 1970 – exhumed,
burned & ashes dumped in the Elbe River.
 May 8, 1945 = V-E Day (Victory in Europe)
= Germany surrenders
THE HOMEFRONT
War effort is organized under New
Deal type organizations:
–Office of War Mobilization –
coordinates agencies (umbrella)
–Selective Service Commission
(draft board) eligible from age
18 to 35
–Office of Price Administration –
price controls and rationing of
products for civilians
–Office of War Information –
propaganda & news
–War Labor Board – strike control
–War Manpower Commission –
labor for munitions factories
–War Production Board – Military
needs are #1
 War
good for the economy
–Full employment – 30 million in war
production jobs, many women
(Rosie the Riveter) & 15 million in
military service = 2 to 1 ratio
–US spends $400 billion on the war
with 2/3 raised from the sale of war
bonds
 FDR
re-elected to 3rd term (1940) &
4th term (1944) “Don’t Change Horses
in the Middle of the Stream”
 Harry Truman takes over when FDR
dies in April 1945
 Battle of Production refers to the
ability of the US to produce more
munitions than the enemy – this is
the single most important factor in
the allied victory
Harry Truman
 Tremendous
public support of the war
effort = jobs, service, bonds, songs,
victory gardens & scrap drives
 Internment of Japanese-Americans
from West Coast – 17,600 fought in
Italy
 Lasting effects on US
–Opportunities for women
–End of the Great Depression
–Science – atomic bomb, jets,
rockets & medicine
Internment Camps
Internment Camps
WAR IN THE PACIFIC
 Japanese
pattern of aggression
–seizure of Korea in 1910
–attack on Chinese Manchuria in
1931
–attacks on the remainder of China in
1937
–attack on the French colony of
Indochina in June 1941
 President
Roosevelt responded
–forbid the sale of oil, iron and steel
to Japan
–froze their bank accounts in the US.
 Japanese leaders were following a
policy aimed at conquering all of Asia
and eventually the rest of the world.
This was to be done to honor the
emperor Hirohito. To do this they
needed oil. Only the US stood in their
way.
 The
attack on Pearl Harbor
–December 7, 1941
–Attempt to remove the US from the
Pacific long enough to seize the East
Indies & claim the islands of the
Pacific. The Japanese expected to
be so strongly in place by the time
the US rebuilt that the US would
simply have to accept it
–Was ordered by Japanese War
Minister Hideji Tojo
–Was planned by chief naval
strategist Isoroku Yamamoto
That mornings map.
Attack Visual
• The first attacks would hit the USS Oklahoma, West Virginia,
Arizona, and Nevada.
•The second attack would hit USS Pennsylvania, and cruisers:
San Francisco, and New Orleans.
USS Arizona
Positioned in “Battle
Row”.
 Hit within 10 min.
after attack began.
 Bomb crashed
through the 2
armored deck,
igniting its magazine.
 Went down with
1,300 lives.

USS Arizona Memorial
“Created to honor the survivors of Pearl Harbor,
their families and friends, and to all those
who died.”
The ship has been preserved as a tomb for
those who went down with the ship.
Erected in 1962.
–Was launched from aircraft carriers
–Was not followed by an invasion
 December 8, 1941 – April 1942
–American owned Philippines was
attacked and invaded
–Commander Douglas MacArthur was
ordered to evacuate to Australia
Promised his men that “I will
return”
–The Americans left behind were
defeated at Corregidor (the biggest
US military defeat in history)
Douglas MacArthur
–Bataan Death March
American POWs and
captured Filipino fighters
Forced to march 65 miles
12,500 died
Survivors were sent to Korea
on what the men called Hell
Ships
Worked as slave labor for
the Japanese
May
42
–Japan controlled the Pacific Ocean
and was poised to attack either
Australia, India or Hawaii.
–They headed south in attempt to
invade Australia from the eastern
coast.
–The US Navy forced them back at
the Battle of the Coral Sea
–This was the first Japanese setback
 June
42
–Japan turned east to take out the
rest of the American Navy
–TURNING POINT OF THE WAR IN
THE PACIFIC – BATTLE OF MIDWAY
–American cryptographers had
broken large portions of the
Japanese code.
–Our analysis machine was code
named Magic
–Using these intercepts Admiral
Chester Nimitz knew the Japanese
air craft carriers were headed
toward either the island of Midway
or Hawaii
–American forces located the
Japanese fleet and sank 4 Japanese
carriers
–We only lost 1
–This battle was the last Japanese
offensive
Chester
Nimitz
–From this point on the Battle of
Production became a major factor
–We could replace ships and build
additional ships
–The Japanese were not able to do
this
–Strategy against Japan was planned
by the Joint Chiefs of Staff in
Washington, chaired by Gen.
George Marshall
George
Marshall
– It involved a three pronged attack
1. Attack across the Central Pacific –
Nimitz – Supreme Commander of the
Central Pacific – navy and marines
2. Attack from Australia to New Guinea
to the Philippines – army – led by
MacArthur, Supreme Commander of
the Southwest Pacific
3. Regain China under Chaing Kai Shek
(Communist leader Mao Zedong also
fought the Japanese)
Chaing
Kai
Shek
 American
and other allied forces did
not generally fight in the same
campaigns, but British and Australian
troops were active against Japan in
the Pacific, India and Burma areas
 8/42 Battle of Guadalcanal in the
Solomon Islands was the first US
offensive in the Pacific
 9/43 MacArthur takes New Guinea
 1944
–Close in on Japan using island
hopping campaign: take the easier
islands in a chain and surround
them all with navy, then use planes
to continue bombing the remaining
islands while the rest of the navy
moves to the next chain and on
toward Japan (p 580)
–Battle of the Philippine Sea (Marianas
Turkey Shoot) – only kamikazes now left
for Japanese air force
–Battle of Leyte Gulf – destroyed
Japanese navy – MacArthur “returns” to
the Philippines – victory in 2/45
 2/45
Iwo Jima (sulfur island) – Marine
Memorial – 27 Medals of Honor – only
1,000 out of 22,000 Japanese survive
Michael Strank
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b. 1919 Jarabenia, Czechoslovakia.
d. 1945 Iwo Jima, Japan.
Their leader and Sergeant, it was Mike who
got the order to climb Mt. Suribachi. Mike
picked his "boys" and led them safely to the
top. Mike explained to the boys that the
larger flag had to be raised so that "every
Marine on this cruddy island can see it." It
was Mike who gave the orders to find a pole,
attach the flag and "put'er up!"
At home as a boy, Mike was studious, had a
photographic memory, played the French
Horn and once slugged a baseball out of
Points Stadium in Johnstown. In 1936, Mike
ran down to the river to see for himself the
terrible Johnstown flood. He brought this
report back to his family: "Don't worry--it will
recede."
Mike's right hand is the only hand of a
flagraiser not on the pole. His right hand is
around the wrist of Franklin Sousley, helping
the younger man push the heavy pole. This is
typical of Mike, the oldest of the flagraisers,
always there to help one of his boys. Two
months before the battle Mike's Captain tried
to promote him but Mike turned it down flat:
"I trained those boys and I'm going to be
with them in battle," he said.
Mike died on March 1, 1945. He was hit by a
mortar as he was diagramming a plan in the
sand for his boys. Mike is buried in Arlington
National Cemetery.

Harlon Block
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b. 1924 Yorktown, Texas.
d. 1945 Iwo Jima, Japan.
Harlon was an outgoing daredevil with many
friends at Weslaco High School. A natural
athlete, Harlon led the Weslaco Panther
Football Team to the Conference Championship.
He was honored as "All South Texas End."
Harlon and twelve of his teammates enlisted in
the Marine Corps together in 1943.
Harlon was Sgt. Mike's second-in-command. He
took over the leadership of his unit when Sgt.
Mike was killed. Harlon was killed by a mortar
blast hours later on March 1 at the age of 21.
When his mother Belle saw the Flag Raising
Photo in the Weslaco Newspaper on Feb. 25,
she exclaimed, "That's Harlon" pointing to the
figure on the far right. But the US Government
mis-identified the figure as Harry Hansen of
Boston. Belle never wavered in her belief that it
was Harlon insisting, "I know my boy." No one-not her family, neighbors, the Government or
the public--had any reason to believe her. But
eighteen months later in a sensational frontpage story, a Congressional investigation
revealed that it was Harlon in the photo,
proving that indeed, Belle did "know her boy."
Harlon is buried beside the Iwo Jima Monument
in Harlingen, Texas.
Franklin Sousley
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b. Sept. 19, 1925 Hilltop, KY.
d. March 21, 1945 Iwo Jima, Japan.
Franklin was a red-haired, freckle-faced "Opie
Taylor" raised on a tobacco farm. His favorite
hobbies were hunting and dancing. Fatherless at
9, Franklin became the main man in his mother's
life. Franklin enlisted at 17 and sailed for the
Pacific on his 18th Birthday. All that's left of
Franklin is a few pictures and two letters
Franklin wrote home to his mother:
July 1944, Letter from Training Camp:
"Mother, you said you were sick. I want you to
stay in out of that field and look real pretty
when I come home. You can grow a crop of
tobacco every summer, but I sure as hell can't
grow another mother like you."
Feb. 27, 1945 Letter from Iwo Jima:
"My regiment took the hill with our company on
the front line. The hill was hard, and I sure
never expected war to be like it was those first 4
days. Mother, you can never imagine how a
battlefield looks. It sure looks horrible. Look for
my picture because I helped put up the flag.
Please don't worry and write."
Franklin was the last flag-raiser to die on Iwo
Jima, on March 21 at the age of 19. When word
reached his mother that Franklin was dead,
"You could hear her screaming clear across the
fields at the neighbor's farm."
Franklin is buried at Elizaville Cemetery,
Kentucky

Ira Hayes
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b. January 12, 1923 Sacaton, Arizona
d. January 24, 1955 Bapchule, Arizona
Ira Hayes was a Pima Indian. When he enlisted in the Marine Corps, he
had hardly ever been off the Reservation. His Chief told him to be an
"Honorable Warrior" and bring honor upon his family. Ira was a dedicated
Marine. Quiet and steady, he was admired by his fellow Marines who
fought alongside him in three Pacific battles.
When Ira learned that President Roosevelt wanted him and the other
survivors to come back to the US to raise money on the 7th Bond Tour, he
was horrified. To Ira, the heroes of Iwo Jima, those deserving honor, were
his "good buddies" who died there.
At the White House, President Truman told Ira, "You are an American
hero." But Ira didn't feel pride. As he later lamented, "How could I feel like
a hero when only five men in my platoon of 45 survived, when only 27
men in my company of 250 managed to escape death or injury?"
The Bond Tour was an ordeal for Ira. He couldn't understand or accept the
adulation . . . "It was supposed to be soft duty, but I couldn't take it.
Everywhere we went people shoved drinks in our hands and said 'You're a
Hero!' We knew we hadn't done that much but you couldn't tell them
that."
Ira went back to the reservation attempting to lead an anonymous life.
But it didn't turn out that way . . . "I kept getting hundreds of letters. And
people would drive through the reservation, walk up to me and ask, 'Are
you the Indian who raised the flag on Iwo Jima"
Ira tried to drown his "Conflict of Honor" with alcohol. Arrested as drunk
and disorderly, his pain was clear . . . "I was sick. I guess I was about to
crack up thinking about all my good buddies. They were better men than
me and they're not coming back. Much less back to the White House, like
me."
In 1954, Ira reluctantly attended the dedication of the Iwo Jima
monument in Washington. After a ceremony where he was lauded by
President Eisenhower as a hero once again, a reporter rushed up to Ira
and asked him, "How do you like the pomp & circumstances?" Ira just
hung his head and said, I don't."
Ira died three months later after a night of drinking. As Ira drank his last
bottle of whiskey he was crying and mumbling about his "good buddies."
Ira was 32.
Rene Ganon
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b. Manchester, N.H.
March 7, 1925
d. Manchester, N.H.
October 12, 1979
Rene Gagnon was the
youngest survivor and
the man who carried the
flag up Mt. Suribachi. He
was the first survivor to
arrive back in the US.
Rene was modest about
his achievement
throughout his life.
Rene is honored with a
special room in New
Hampshire's prestigious
Wright
Museum.
Rene is buried in
Arlington National
Cemetery, the Flag
Raiser buried
closest to the Marine
Corps Memorial.
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John
Bradley
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b. July 10, 1923 Antigo, WI.
d. January 11, 1994 Antigo, WI.
"Doc" Bradley was a Navy Corpsman who "just jumped in
to lend a hand." He won the Navy Cross for heroism and
was wounded in both legs.
Bradley, a quiet, private man, gave just one interview in
his life. In it he said . . . "People refer to us as heroes--I
personally don't look at it that way. I just think that I
happened to be at a certain place at a certain time and
anybody on that island could have been in there--and we
certainly weren't heroes--and I speak for the rest of them
as well. That's the way they thought of themselves also."
"Of the surviving Flag Raisers, only Bradley was
successful in putting his life back together after the
war." ---From the best-selling "Immortal Images" by
Tedd Thomey
John Bradley returned to his home town in the Midwest
after the war, prospered as the owner of a family
business, and gave generously of his time and money to
local causes. He was married for 47 years and had eight
children.
While Bradley had a public image as a war hero, he was a
very private person. He avoided discussion of his war
record saying only that the real heros were the men who
gave their lives for their country.
The Global Media reported the death of a World War II
icon on January 11, 1994 at the age of 70. But his
hometown newspaper best captured the essence of
Bradley's life after the war:
"John Bradley will be forever memorialized for a few
moments action at the top of a remote Pacific mountain.
We prefer to remember him for his life. If the famous
flag-raising at Iwo Jima symbolized American patriotism
and valor, Bradley's quiet, modest nature and
philanthropic efforts shine as an example of the best of
small town American values." ---Editorial, "The Antigo
Daily Journal"
 Spring
45 – bombers freed from
Europe begin massive raids on Japan;
fire bombing of Tokyo
 6/45 – Okinawa – heavy casualties –
last island before Japan itself
 7/45
– Truman issues Potsdam
Ultimatum – surrender or “else
–Manhattan Project begun 1939 at
suggestion of scientist Albert
Einstein; successfully tested at Los
Alamos under the direction of Dr.
Robert Oppenheimer
 8/6/45 – atomic bomb dropped from
the Enola Gay on the city of
Hiroshima (Little Boy)
–Prime rationale for use = shorten
the war and save American lives;
critics say it was unnecessary, Japan
was defeated already and we were
really trying to send a “message” to
the Soviet Union; supporters point
out that Japan refused to surrender
and was arming for a suicidal
defense of the home islands
 8/8/45
– Soviet Union declares war on
Japan
 8/9/45 – city of Nagasaki bombed
(Fat Man)
 8/10/45 – informal surrender of Japan
– announced 8/14/45 – V-J day
 9/2/45 formal surrender papers
signed in Tokyo Bay – MacArthur
50,000,000
people died in World
War II
Soviets highest losses at
20,000,000
 US losses between 250,000 and
300,000
PLANNING THE POSTWAR WORLD
 Big Three =
–Joseph Stalin – Soviet Union
–Winston Churchill – Great Britain
–Franklin D. Roosevelt – US
 Churchill and Roosevelt had held a
meeting even before US entered the
war: Atlantic Charter = no land would
be gained as a result of the victory in
the war
Roosevelt had given Lend-Lease Aid
to both nations. Four freedoms
speech (speech, religion, want, fear)
proceeded this
 4 major wartime conferences:
1. 1/43 – Casablanca – agree that
Axis must give unconditional
surrender; agree to Italian
Campaign as next move. USSR
preferred France but was outvoted
by US & Britain
2. 11/43 – Teheran – agree to
Normandy Campaign in 1944

3. 2/45 – Yalta – USSR agrees to
declare war on Japan 3 months after
the defeat of Germany – German
occupation zones agreed on (Soviet,
British, American and France) –
German capital city of Berlin to be
divided as well. – Free elections to
be held in Poland – general
guidelines for formation of United
Nations (Dumbarton oaks in San
Francisco 6/45) finalize) – FDR the
“sick old man of Yalta”
Winston Churchill, Franklin Delano Roosevelt, Joseph Stalin
4.
7/45 – Potsdam – Truman, Stalin
and Clement Attlee (replaced
Churchill) – agree on details of
German occupation and ultimatum
to Japan
Winston Churchill, Harry Truman, Joseph Stalin
Clement Attlee, Harry Truman, Joseph Stalin
THE HOLOCAUST

Defined: The deliberate intent of the
Nazis to seek out and kill any and
every Jew regardless of Sex, Age,
Religion, Education, Occupation, or
National loyalty in any and every
place he could be found
 Five
Roles
1.Perpetrator – planned it – Hitler, SS
chief Heinrich Himmler, Adolf
Eichman, Rudolf Hess, Dr. Josef
Mengele – very small group –
believed in Aryan purity, a master
race
2.Collaborator – didn’t plan it, but
willingly cooperated and saw it as a
means of personal advancement –
Camp Guards, drove trains,
identified Jews
1. Bystander – saw what was
happening and did nothing to try
to stop it – largest group
2. Victims – 11 million people;
6,000,000 of them Jews – Elie
Wiesel – Author of Night
3. Rescuers – people with the moral
courage to try to help; smallest
group – only 9,500 Righteous
Gentiles: Corrie ten Boom, Oskar
Schindler, over 500 from a Dutch
Village. Nation of Denmark did the
most: 7,200 Jews rescued
Anti-Semitism had existed in Europe
long before Hitler. It was based on
Religion, Economics, Social, and
Political reasons. But never before had
there been the intention to kill all
Jews
Hitler used progressive actions:
1. Boycott of Jewish businesses – 1933
2. Removal of Jews from government jobs
– 1933
3. Nuremburg Laws – no inter marriage –
1935
4. Add Sara or Israel to all Jewish names –
1938
5. Kristallnacht – 1938
6. No emigration – 1941
7. Wear yellow arm band - 1941
 Ultimate
goal of total extermination
definite by 1941
 “Every Jew that we can lay our hands on
is to be destroyed now during the war,
without exception.” Rudolf Hess
 Hitler wrote of 3 goals in Russian
campaign – territory, destroy Communism,
destroy Jews
 Hard for Jews to know what to do:
language, job, parents, hope, change,
attachment to home, can’t afford, where
do you go?
 France
– helped identify Jews for the
Nazis – 95% died
 Poland – large number helped run
camps
 England and US – Jews just one
aspect of total war – beating Hitler
and Tojo was the #one priority
Jews crowded into Ghettoes – survival
based on profitability, but even that
was no guarantee. Warsaw – largest;
only 200 calories a day. Jewish
government within ghetto = Jupenrat
– tried to save as many as possible
but hard choices – Do you sacrifice
some to save the rest? Who do yuou
sacrifice? – goal was survival, but
whose survival – individual or
collective and at what price?
 Resistance
= sabotage of equipment,
hiding, false papers, armed rebellion
(Warsaw)
 11,000 camps – not all were
considered death camps; 50 German
factories operated almost entirely on
Jewish slave labor
 Jews were considered consumable
raw material (hair, ashes, even urine)
Auschwitz = largest camp
Majdanek = 360,000 deaths;
crematoria burned 1,000 a day
Treblinka = 800,000 deaths in 18
months; 13 gas chambers; 2,000
people at a time within 10-15 minutes
 Nuremburg
Trials – special court for
war criminals but many lesser figures
escape in confusion after war
Almost
1/3 of survivors came to
US after war; 2/3 to newly created
Israel.