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Draft calls went out for more men to join the armed forces (due to the Selective Training and Service Act)
GI’s: American soldiers named after “Government Issue” stamps on clothing and equipment
Enlisted for patriotism, adventure, or need of a job
1 million served but the military was segregated
Commanded by white officers
Jobs as cooks and laborers
Not sent into combat
Hispanic Americans: 350,000 served; most decorated ethnic group
Native Americans: 25,000 served; used to create codes
Japanese Americans: 17,000 served; fought loyally despite US treatment
Women: 275,000 volunteered; clerks, typists, mechanics, photographers, and drivers
Outcome of war depended on ability to produce bombers, tanks, uniforms, and other war materials
War Production Board (WPB): direct conversion of peacetime industries to wartime goods
Great Arsenal of Democracy: what FDR called the US to become; needed to raise production of military materials
Employment: 15 million left work force to go to war; jobs easily filled by the unemployed
Americans had money but rationed during the war
Some goods made unavailable to be used for wartime production
Rationing: limited consumption of goods (rubber, gas, butter, meat, cheese)
Victory Garden: Produced about 1/3 of country’s fresh vegetables
Office of War Information encouraged women to join the work force (patriotic duty): 35% of civilian work force
Rosie the Riveter: image used to attract women to the work force
African Americans: many migrated to the North; limited housing created urban ghettos
Mexican Americans: shipyard and aircraft factory jobs in the West; also worked as farm laborers
Japanese Americans: War Relocation Authority moved 110,00 to West Coast internment camps