Of The Japanese People In America example essay topic

World War II was a devastating time for Americans and countries around the world. There is so much that went into the war and so many aspects that are deeper than the war itself. Often left out of conversation and partly in remembrance of this particular occurrence include an unparalleled feat of patriotism and bravery during the war. There were many events during the war that would alter history forever. This was the first time that women were given a chance to be apart of a war. This was the first time black men and women had an opportunity to be a part of a war.

There was a huge migration of blacks from the south. The segregation of the black recruits in the military. There was also internal American conflict with Japanese residents, and Japanese internment. There was Nazi-Jewish conflict overseas with nazi death camps and the holocaust. All of these things affected the war and the course of history.

So how did it all start? Before the attack of Pearl Harbor, there are two specific events that had already traced a path for WWII. One of them was the downfall of France, which occurred in June 1941. The second event was Hitler's invasion of the Soviet Union. Hitler really wanted to make sure that when he died he would leave his smudge in history. Hitler and Stalin were like two self-centered teenage girl- "friends", prone to stab each other in the back; neither one of them trusted the other.

They engaged in a long-drawn-out negotiation in a secret attempt to split up potential territorial treasure amongst them both. Stalin was not satisfied with dominant German control over the Balkans. Hitler (not being able to handle things as a civil human being) decide it would be best to crush his conspirator by launching a surprise attack upon the Soviet Union on June 22, 1941. Roosevelt immediately gave American assistance to Moscow as promised, 9 by making military supplies available) thus halting the German invasion at opening of Moscow.

In a short time America lost its footing and we were no longer a neutral nation. December 7, 1941, "a day that will live in infamy". The attack on Pearl Harbor sprung up after intense negotiations between America and Japan. Part of the negotiations included the United states demand that Japan leave China (where they had been battling for 4 years with China). Of course, that did not go over well. The Japanese probably figured that we were out of our minds if we thought that the Japanese were going to just pick up and leave after a long and bitter battle merely at our request.

They had a choice to comply with us, or fight back: they fought back. American intelligence agents cracked the Japanese codes that informed us that their choice was war. It was almost a laughing matter to think that Japan would have the power or guts to hoist an attack upon America, but they did. December 7, 1941, "Black Sunday", a paralyzing blow struck the largest navel Base in the U. S, Pearl Harbor disabling air crafts and killing soldiers and nurses.

Germany, Italy, and allies of Japan spared congress argument and debate by declaring war on December 11, 1941. The war was finally official. The Holocaust had been going on since before the war was officially declared. In Germany and throughout parts of Europe Jews were being segregated, persecuted, abused, and taken from their homes, and millions put in Concentration camps. Hitler blamed the Jews for things he did not understand and things out of his power. But there is no reason or excuse to have such a genocidal, bloodthirsty frame of mind.

Some Jewish people were able to flee from the talons of Hitler and his prot " eg'ees. Over six million European Jews died in concentration camps from heartache (due to loss of loved ones in front of their eyes), mal-nutrition, disease, and / or harsh violence and murder. The survivors were appallingly sick and mal-nourished. When the allies overran Germany they were appalled and sickened at the site. Although America offered some assistance there was no way to bandage the emotional and psychological wounds of this horrendous affair. Japanese interment was the imprisonment of Japanese civilians.

The war was the spark to the flame of anti-Asian Racism. It didn't help the problem when people of higher authority were spilling gasoline on the fire. "A good solution to the Jap problem would be to send them all back to Japan, then sink the island"-governor of Idaho. (History of the United States) It sounds like we were being no better than the 'devil' himself, Hitler.

We took these innocent people from their lives. We are not God and we should not play God by interfering with people's lives in such a manor. But Many Americans believed that the Japanese residents served as spies or conspirators, even though there was not any evidence to back up their accusations. It is possible that the camps could have been for the better, only because angry American citizens who have lost loved ones in Battle due to the Japanese would probably lash out on the poor Japanese American citizens although in all reality there was nothing they could do to stop or cause what was happening and what had happened. A lot of problems over the course of history could have been avoided if people knew the facts before acting on impulse. Many of the Japanese people in America were born in America so the were U.S. citizens.

In February 1942, president Roosevelt commanded the army to gather about 120, 00 citizens and aliens of Japanese Ancestry and put them in "relocation centers" (emphasis on the quotations), relocation center was just a euphemism for concentration camp. Although we were reportedly not nearly as vicious as Hitler, it was still wrong. In these camps there was little to no privacy and it was very crowded. Whole families were forced to live in a single room. Eventually some Japanese- Americans joined the armed forces.

In the early 1940's The U.S. government began to recruit Japanese Americans for military service. The interment lasted throughout the course of the war. Many blacks migrated from the south in hopes of finding work in the military. The amount of money the military began spending began to increase in 1941, and with this new spending came new jobs. The jobs were predominantly for whites. The military flowing with the times, segregated black soldiers and put them at low- level jobs "We can take no pride in our armed forces.

We can become no more than flunkies in the army and kitchen boys in the navy"- black recruit (web) In July 1941 there was to be a huge march on Washington led by A. Philip Randolph demanding equal access to the defense positions, and having the "right to fight" in the military. There was no logic in not enabling the black recruits to be a real part of the military team because they surely could have used an extra hand from the beginning, but too often people let their pride and ignorant beliefs become a roadblock to a path of unity and well-being. Roosevelt met with Randolph, and together they made a deal. Roosevelt issued an executive order (8802). This order prohibited discrimination in war industries, although not in the armed forces. In return, Randolph would call off the March.

There were about one million black men and women soldiers who served in the armed forces during WWII. Although the military remained segregated there were some black pilots that got to defend "their country" in combat. They belonged to the 99th fighter pursuit squadron, they called themselves the Tuskegee Airmen. Their name came from the base where they were trained, Tuskegee, Alabama.

Around 1,000 African-Americans fulfilled their aeronautical training at the Tuskegee base. Although the Tuskegee airmen did not have a grand opportunity to show their skills in WWII, they did find 'a little light in the sun'. Between 1943 and 1945, the Tuskegee airmen set a fortunate Tuskegee record: none of the bombers they escorted were lost to enemy fighters, they destroyed 251 enemy airplanes and won more than 850 medals. If you think about it is sort of funny how after persecution and a fight for equality the Japanese and the blacks joined the military to defend and fight for the country that spit on them.

In my eyes I think the only reason they fought was to save themselves, their families and for the little money the received. It wouldn't make sense to protect those who would put your life on the line, maybe I'm just mean or it's possible I am missing something. If I were in their positions I probably would have gone about things completely different, but then I suppose I would be jeopardizing my own life and probably be putting a halt on the slow progression of equality. Resulting in many upset people. In wars prior to WWII, women could only serve as clerks or nurses.

In WWII they received full status. Of course there was the bias view of pig-headed men who felt that a woman's place was at home, but with the creation of the Woman's Auxiliary army Corps (WAAC) it didn't really matter. Women had to live in guarded compounds with barbed wire fencing to keep the male soldiers from desperately trying to socialize with them. Women worked over seas with over 200 stationed in North Africa alone. From there women were sent to serve in Italy with the Army, and these specific women traveled all over Italy during the course of the Italian campaign handling the communications they earned commendations, over 1,600 medals including the Bronze star, citations and the respect of their fellow soldiers (which probably meant more to them than any of the awards). These were ruff and tumble women; they crawled through mud, lived in canvas tents, dug trenches, dived into those same trenches and fox holes.

Nurses were stationed all over the world, and over 5000 women served in the Southwest pacific, including areas such as New Guinea, Leyte, Manila (Philippines), China and Burma. Women made a momentous contribution to the war working in any and every position that did not include direct combat. As a result four hundred thousand (400,000) women gave a part of their life for their country. WWII brought about new opportunities for everyone. It's just too bad that it took a war to change some things that shouldn't have needed to be fixed in the beginning. Women most definitely 'had their names written in the stars'.

Without the women, more than twice as many men would have died in the war. Although blacks did not have an enormous role in the war this opened the door for later opportunities to fight hand-in-hand with white soldiers. The discrimination against the Japanese and blacks after many years started to dwindle away, although it took a while for non-Asian Americans to forgive the Japanese people. Today all races and women fight together in America, so I suppose the old saying is true 'no pain, no gain".