The American Home Front

Question 1

Henry J. Kaiser

Answer 1

He was the builder of the Liberty Ships of WWII. Originally a construction industrialist, he moved to shipyards during the war. His ship production lines could build a ship in 4.5 days! 2,700 ships were built during the war.

Question 2

Alfred Wedemeyer

Answer 2

General for the United States under FDR, who wrote a report on how to rebuild the economy. In short, he writes about plans to rebuild the economy through war efforts, such as building planes, ships, etc., when the war starts. The United States would build more weapons than all its enemies combined by 1942.

Question 3

Victory Plan/Program

Answer 3

This was America’s plan to transition into a wartime economy. It utilized industrial production to win the war and as a military strategic war plan to fight Germany and Japan.

Question 4

J Phillip Randolph

Answer 4

Randolph led the Brotherhood of Sleeping Car Porters, the most and only significant African American Union during this time. The union urged African Americans to fight racism with non-violent resistance, as Gandhi did in India. Randolph planned a large march but was called to meet with FDR, where he created the Fair Employment Practices Commission.

Question 5

332nd Fighter Group

Answer 5

The Tuskegee Airmen are known as the “Redtails.” This was an all-African American group that was highly decorated. White bomber crews would ask to be escorted by them, and the unit reviewed 96 distinguished flying crosses.

Question 6

761st Tank Batallion

Answer 6

The first all-black tank unit to see combat in WWII. They were known as the “Black Panthers.” They helped breach the Sgifreid Line in the battle for Berlin. Although they were well decorated and achieved military greatness, they were still considered second-class citizens on US soil.

Question 7

Jackie Robinson

Answer 7

One of the greatest to ever play Baseball for the Brooklyn Dodgers. Served as a 2nd Lt during the war.

Question 8

Braceros

Answer 8

A wartime program that brought previously deported Mexicans back into the US to work agriculture. Previously, during the Depression, Mexicans were deported to make room for white workers. The Labor Importation Act of 1942-64 aided the Braceros Act, which grew a massive percentage of US produce essential to the global war effort.

Question 9

Zoot Suitors

Answer 9

Zoot Suitors were associated with the jazz youth culture in Los Angeles. It was comprised of Latinos, some African Americans, and Filipinos. They dressed very flamboyantly and were affiliated with “gang culture.” In 1943, white sailors instigated a fight with Zoot Suitors in LA. The LA Times published inflammatory articles that rallied whites to attack “other” people, which resulted in racist attacks that lasted weeks. Military police refused to step in.

Question 10

American GI Forum

Answer 10

This forum was founded in 1948 and advocated for veteran issues. It started in Texas and expanded outwards into other states from there. This was the precursor to the Chicano Movement and advocated for Mexican soldiers.

Question 11

Dr. Hector Garcia

Answer 11

Garcia led the American GI Forum.

Question 12

Felix Longoria

Answer 12

Longoria was killed in the Philippines in 1945. The Funeral home in Texas, where Longoria was from, refused to bury his body because he was Mexican. In steps, the American GI Forum will bring up the issue of this treatment of a veteran and serve as a critical moment for the Chicano Movement. Lyndon B Johnson arranges Longoria’s burial in Arlington Cemetery.

Question 13

Executive Order 9066

Answer 13

FDR executed the order in February 1942 after the bombing of Pearl Harbor. It interned all Japanese Americans. Mostly affected the West but did not apply to Hawaii as too much of the population was of Japanese descent. Those interned lost land, property, etc.

Question 14

Earl Warren

Answer 14

California Attorney General/future Supreme Court Justice argued that the Japanese were “inscrutable,” unlike Germans and Italians.

Question 15

No-No Boys

Answer 15

Interned Japanese men who said “no” to the loyalty test. The Loyalty Test asked if they were willing to serve in the armed forces of the US on combat duty wherever ordered if they would swear unqualified allegiance to the US and faithfully defend it from any attack and forswear any form of allegiance to any other foreign government. The questions implied they had been disloyal before.

Question 16

442nd Regimental Combat Team

Answer 16

An all-Japanese-American unit recruited from internment camps. It was the most decorated regiment in the US Army, and it fought against German troops in France and Italy.

Question 17

Navajo Code Talkers

Answer 17

Native American soldiers serving in the Pacific used the Navajo language to send communications so the Japanese would not intercept or interpret them.

Question 18

Joseph Medicine Crow

Answer 18

The Last War Chief from the Crow Tribe. The Last Native American War Chief.

Question 19

Selective Service Act 1940

Answer 19

This act increased the standing army size to 500k troops and created local draft boards assigned numbers to all males aged 21-36. If your number was pulled, you were drafted. The first number, 158, was drawn by Henry Stimson, Secretary of War.