As you know, the Unites States wasn’t really apart of World War 2 until the end. Before entering, US government was only sending helpful supplies to our allies. We didn’t join until the Japanese Navy attacked Pearl Harbor, Hawaii. Pearl Harbor was a military harbor, so after they attacked and destroyed it, Congress approved of declaring war on Japan. This event happened on December 7, 1941. The day after, President Franklin D Roosevelt asked Congress to approve the declaration on Japan. The declaration was approved with only one dissenting vote. Three days after the public declaration, Japan’s allies – Germany and Italy – declared war on the US.
In the months after Pearl Harbor, the US has organized a lot of human and material resources for the war. By the end of 1941 the US army and grown to a total of 2.2 million trained soldiers, sailors, airmen, and marines. Then by late 1942, all men aged 18 to 64 were required to register or were drafted; although, the system concentrated on men under age 38 to fight.
A Highlight of What Happened in the War
Because of the collected US resources, when our army entered the war, they were fully equipped with enough supplies for itself and allies. This was from tremendous war production made by adults of all genders. over millions of men and women alike entered service, making unemployment practically disappear. This war effort, in the home front and in production, came to be a part of everyday life for the short time. Americans learned to maintain important resources smartly. Rations would be handed out to all, price controls were created; there were shortages of everything. Volunteer jobs ranged from a Red Cross worker to air raid warden.
Campaigns were made to help people remember what to do. Those campaigns were called Food for Victory, Make It Do or Do Without, Do With Less, So They’ll Have More, and Save Waste Fat for Explosives. These things were made to remind the citizens apart of the war production that they had to help the soldiers by rationing their own food and resources for them. They also recycled many household items to make ammunition. There was also something called share Your Cars and Spare Your Tires. This was to tell the citizens that they had to give in their cars and anything metal to the army. But this was for a good reason; during the war, there was a shortage on metals. They needed the metals to make almost everything from guns to ships to water canteens. They also needed the rubber from car tires to help in the war. To help pay for the war, the government increased the amount of corporate and personal income taxes.
Maintaining the Economy
During the war, America’s economy tweaked itself and almost all businesses to support the war. Factories made war products and women made those items; men aged eighteen(18) to around thirty-eight(38) went to train for war. Everything was about the war when the United States joined. The US Gross National Product(GNP) doubled during that time. it changed from $99.7 billion in economic production in 1940 to almost $212 by 1945. There were also production miracles during that time. President Roosevelt shocked the Congress when her proposed the building of 50,000 aircraft in one year; but in 1944 the nation made just about twice that amount! Ford also contributed to another miracle when one of his factories produced a single plane per hour.
For United States Safety
As known, many American men and women volunteered to defend the country from the enemies. They were all trained differently to help in their ways. Some were trained in first aid, to lead practice drills in case of an air raid, or to handle a blackout. Others were trained for first hand fighting; a couple of examples could be aircraft spotting and bomb removal. Even though many were trained, America wasn't invaded after the Pearl Harbor incident. Although there were times where Japanese submarines were spotted near the US waters, or German U-boats patrolling the Atlantic coast.
During the war, a company called the Higgins Industries designed and built two basic classes of military crafts. The first one was a landing craft. It was built of wood and steel to transport fully armed troops, light tanks, field artillery, and other equipment and supplies to shore. The boats helped make landings on sea a reality. Another landing craft called the “Landing Craft, Vehicle, Personnel”, or the LCVP for short, was the most famous. It was also produced by Higgins Industries. The LCVP was able to land soldiers and jeeps on a beach. They were used in North Africa, Europe, and the Pacific during the war. The designer of the LCVP, named Andrew Higgins, made the LCVP as an evolved version of a boat he created to use in the swamps and marshes of Louisiana. He also made a different boat, which he called “Eureka”. This boat was the base of another helpful boat in the war. It became called the “Landing Craft, Personnel, Large”, or the LCP(L). This craft could transport men from an offshore ship directly to a beach, then turn around to help around in the sea again. After adding a retractable ramp to help vehicles to shore, the LCVP became the primary personnel landing craft.