1941-1945

Dec. 7th 1941 the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor, Hawaii

2,335 Americans lost their lives

FDR declares war on Japan and later on their allies, Germany and Italy.

The Philippine Islands were possessed by the US since 1898.

The Japanese wanted the Philippines Natural Resources Wanted the US out of their territory

New Mexican National Guard sent to the Islands◦ Extra $15/month (Great Depression still on going)◦ Did not plan to be shipped out of NM

The Japanese invade and conquer the Bataan Peninsula ◦ US Cannot send reinforcements

Japanese took all survivors of the attack as Prisoners of War (POWs)◦ Sent on a 65 mile death march◦ Inhumane treatment (video)

Those that survived the walk were sent to a Death Camp◦ Others were picked up and put on Hell Ships to

work for the Japanese elsewhere

Geneva Conventions- Agreement amongst nations to treat all POWs humanely (US follows these guidelines).

German and Japanese people all over the country were put into camps based on the possibility that they could be traitors.

US round up more than 120,000 Japanese men, women and children and sent them to relocation camps

Occupation/social standing did not matter Used former CCC camps in Santa Fe and

Lordsburg, NM to house the POWs. Treated humanely, but not allowed to leave until the

end of the war Roy Nakayama (Mr. Chile)

◦ Former Japanese-American POW in NM ◦ After the war, earned a degree from New Mexico

A&M and contributed the development of Chile as a major crop in New Mexico.

Built because of NM climate/flying conditions◦ Kirtland (Albuquerque)◦ Cannon (Clovis)◦ Holloman (Alamogordo)◦ Walker (Roswell)◦ Carlsbad◦ Hobbs◦ Deming

Who are the Code Talkers?

    The Navajo Code Talkers Program was established in September 1942 as the result of a recommendation made the previous February by Mr. Philip Johnston.

The Navajo Code Talkers, whose ranks exceed 400 during the course of World War II in the Pacific.  Have been credited with saving countless lives and hastening the end of the war. The Code Talker's served in all six Marine divisions from 1942 to 1945.

The Code Talker's primary job was to talk and transmit information on military tactics, via telegraphs and radios in their native dialect.

The Code Talkers did not receive credit for their work until it was declassified in 1968

A major advantage of the code talker system was its speed

Morse code often took hours, while the Navajos handled a message in minutes.

Japanese never broke the code.

The code was deciphered correctly 100% of the time by the Navajos.

Helped decrease casualties in the Pacific.

Public recognition by President Bush in 2001.

•Leo Salard – Hungarian scientist who came up with the idea of creating an atomic weapon. Also, brought the US information that the Germans had “split the atom”•Albert Einstein – Left Germany and came to the US to avoid persecution/racism. Salard met with him to discuss the German technology.•President Roosevelt (FDR) created a commission to look into the German study about the splitting of the atom

•Pearl Harbor= Final Motivation to work on creating an atomic weapon

Making the Atomic Bomb"

Colonel Leslie R. Groves appointed to head the effort◦ Engineer◦ West Point Graduate ◦ Very intelligent ◦ Also, Oversaw the

building of the Pentagon (Military Headquarters

Robert Oppenheimer• American Theoretical Thysicist• scientific director of the Manhattan Project•Lawrence's Radiation Laboratory at University of California Berkeley

Los Alamos was chosen because it was virtually inaccessible an could remain “Hidden”

Los Alamos Scientific Laboratory was the laboratory that designed and fabricated the first atomic bombs, codenamed Project Y

General Leslie Groves and J. Robert Oppeneheimer

Two places in northern New Mexico, Jemez Springs and the Los Alamos Boys Ranch School were suggested

Oppenheimer suggested that the bomb laboratory operate secretly in an isolated area

What better place than New Mexico?

Fuller Lodge, built in 1928 served as cafeteria, infirmary, classroom building and social center.

The Boys slept in the fresh air of screened-in porches at the Big House.

Before 1942, Los Alamos was the site of an exclusive boys school and a few homesteads

U.S. Army took possession of the Ranch School property and 54,000 surrounding acres

Los Alamos went up like a boomtown.

Uranium Bomb- Uranium is a naturally occurring element, but supply was limited (cannot test because of this).

Plutonium Bomb- a man made Element (more plentiful supply)

The Trinity Test a barren site near

White Sands, NM (close to Alamogordo)

Three observation bunkers located 10,000 yards north, west, and south of the firing tower at ground zero would attempt to measure critical aspects of the reaction

Tower for the Trinity Test.

to determine the symmetry of the implosion and the amount of energy released.

to determine damage estimates

record the behavior of the fireball

Trinity Device, the "Gadget" Being Readied.

The bomb released approximately 18.6 kilotons of power

the New Mexico sky was suddenly brighter than the sun

Seconds after the explosion came a huge blast,

Remains of Trinity Test Tower Footings. Oppenheimer and Groves at Center.

At approximately 2:00 a.m. on August 6, 1945 the Enola Gay left the island of Tinian for Hiroshima, Japan.

At 8:15 a.m., “Little Boy” exploded, instantly killing an estimated 80,000 to 140,000 people and seriously injuring 100,000 more.

Hiroshima had disappeared under a thick, churning foam of flames and smoke.

The co-pilot, Captain Richard Lewis, commented, "My God, what have we done?"

On August 9, 1945, the Bock's Car dropped an atomic bomb (the "Fat Man") on Nagasaki, instantly killing tens of thousands of people

Its mission was to bomb the industrial city of Kokura but the target was blocked by clouds and smog Crew of Bock’s Car

.

An estimated 74,000 people were killed and another 75,000 sustained severe injuries.

This second bombing prompted the surrender of Japan and the war ended shortly thereafter.

Cold War with Soviet Union◦ What was it?

Los Alamos, NM conducted research on the Hydrogen Bomb

Fission bombs derive their energy from splitting atoms

Hydrogen bombs (fusion bomb) derive their power from fusing atoms of the light element Hydrogen

A Scientist that originally came to Los Alamos NM to work on the Manhattan Project. Once WWII was over he shifted his focus to rocket science.

He moved to Roswell, NM and worked on creating liquid fueled rockets for military purposes.

Goddard High School in Roswell was named in honor of him.

Robert Goddard in 1938 at Roswell, New Mexico, with one of the rockets he developed from 1926 to 1941

On June 14, 1947 rancher Mack Brazel was working on a fence when he discovered a strange crash site about 75 miles northwest of Roswell.

He made the claim that he had found a “flying disc” from another planet in outer space.

The US Air Force put out a claim that the remains were actually from a weather balloon launched from the White Sands Missile Range.

Many said the government was just trying to cover up the possibility of alien life forms. The material found that day is still a controversy today, and has become a major tourist attraction for the city of Roswell.