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Trivia Question #1 – True or False?

• 1. Over 1 million African-Americans took were a part of the 16 million total Americans that served in World War II.

• True!

Trivia Question #2

• 2. What was baseball great Jackie Robinson’s role in World War II?• Officer in the 761st Tank Battalion.

Trivia Question #3 – True or False?

• 3. Japanese – Americans did not serve in any great numbers to help the U.S. cause in World War II.

• False – 33,000 Nisei (Ni = second, sei = generation) Japanese-Americans were drafted or enlisted in the U.S. military.

African-Americans on the Home front • African Americans were important players in the war effort even

though discrimination and racism were still alive.

• African American’s worked in factories alongside white women producing war supplies (ammo, tanks, planes, and battleships).

The Segregated Military• While African Americans received increased opportunities to fight in

World War II, the military was still segregated or separated (until 1948).

• Some African-American units, such as the Tuskegee Airmen were able to see battle in World War II and become war heroes.

#4 – The Battle of Stalingrad• September 1942-January

1943 • Germany invaded the Soviet

Union. • The Soviet Union defeated

Germany at Stalingrad marking the turning point of the war in Eastern Europe.

Stalingrad marks the furthest advance of the German army. After the Soviet victory, the German army was slowly pushed back.

The Battle of Stalingrad• The battle of Stalingrad was fought in the winter of

1943. It was an incredibly hard fought battle on both sides. It is estimated that there was a total of over 2 million casualties suffered. It is one of the bloodiest battles in history.Both armies did not want to give up. At one time the Germans controlled almost 90% of the city. The fighting went from house to house.

• However, the bitterly cold Soviet winter, lack of supplies and reinforcements, combined with a Soviet offensive, soon got the better of the German army. It surrendered on January 31, 1943.

#5 – Battle of Midway

• June 1942 The United States was victorious over Japan in the Battle of Midway.

• This victory was the turning point of the war in the Pacific. Midway Island was the farthest that the Japanese advanced in the Pacific. After the Battle of Midway, the US forces started pushing Japan back using the strategy of “Island Hopping”.

Where is Midway??

What happened during the Battle of Midway?

• The Battle of Midway destroyed Japan’s naval strength when the Americans destroyed four of its aircraft carriers. Japan’s navy never recovered from the destruction at Midway and it was on the defensive after this battle. The US on the other hand did not suffer heavy losses.

The D-Day Invasion – June 6, 1944

• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=82RTzi5Vt7w

#6 Turning Point – Race to Berlin

• After the successful liberation or freeing of France after D-Day, the Allies began a race to see who could get to the Nazi capital of Berlin first. By April of 1945, the Nazis realized that they had lost the war and surrendered on 7 May 1945, ending the war in Europe.

#7 Turning Point – The U.S. drops atomic bombs in Japan. • Although the Nazis had surrendered, Japan was still focused on

fighting on. • Rather than invade with troops, the U.S. decided to drop atomic

bombs on two cities in Japan (Hiroshima and Nagasaki) to end the war quickly (Japan surrenders on 2 September 1945 – officially ending World War II).