World War Two – Page 96 – Old Magazine Articles

The Japanese-Americans of the OSS
(Rob Wagner’s Script, 1946)

Printed on the attached two pages is an informative history of the vital contributions that were made by the Japanese-Americans who served in the O.S.S. behind enemy lines during the Burma-China campaign. Additionally, the men who toiled on behalf of the Southeast Asia Translation and Interrogation Center are also praised. This article does not hold back in giving credit where it is due – many are the names that were remembered with gratitude.

The D-Day Landing Crafts
(Click Magazine, 1942)

If you ever wondered why The National W.W. II Museum is located in New Orleans rather than West Point, Annapolis or the nation’s capitol – the answer can be spoken in two words: Andrew Higgins. Higgins was the innovator who designed and manufactured the landing crafts that made it possible for the Allied forces to land on all those far-flung beaches throughout the world and show those Fascists dogs a thing or two. His factory, Higgins Industries, was located on Lake Pontchartrain in New Orleans and it was for this reason that the museum board of directors chose to doff their collective caps, and erect their repository in his home town.

Attached is a five page photo-essay about Higgins and all that he was doing to aid in the war effort.

The Mettle of Americans
(Click Magazine, 1944)

Following his tour of the war fronts, U.S. Senator Henry Cabot Lodge Jr. (1902 – 1985) put pen to paper in an attempt to express his admiration for the brave and selfless acts that Americans were performing all over the globe:

If asked to say what impressed me on my recent trip to the war theater, my answer would be: the heroic qualities displayed by our American boys. My most lasting impressions were gained in the field and in the hospitals around the globe. It is there that one sees the kind of boy America produces.

Additional praise for the American fighting man can be read here…

The WACs
(Think Magazine, 1946)

The Women’s Army Corps (WAC), first organized as an auxiliary May 14, 1942, became ‘regular army’ a little more than a year later…They were secretaries and stenographers for generals. They operated switchboards which kept communications alive throughout the European theater of operations…Their keen eyes and quick fingers made them expert as parachute riggers. They became weather experts [charting the aerial routes for the long-range bombers of the U.S. Eighth Air Force].

140,000 women served as WACs – – although this article stated that there were only 100,000.

Guys & WAACs
(Click Magazine, 1943)

Fort Warren, Wyoming, is bleak, windswept, desolate. It is no wonder that the soldiers stationed there looked forward to the arrival at the lonely post of a unit of the Women’s Army Auxiliary Corps (WAAC). [When the women arrived] The men of Company H, Fifth Quartermaster Training Regiment, sent over an invitation to a party… The party was informal but military. The hosts marched in formation to their guests’ barracks where the two companies fell in behind their respective officers for the return trip. The evening included a buffet supper, attendance at boxing matches and refreshments afterwards.

U.S. Army Mobile Hospitals of World War Two
(Yank Magazine, 1944)

The American military personnel who are wounded while fighting the terrorists in both Iraq and Afghanistan are today the beneficiaries of a field hospital system that was developed long ago in World War II, Korea and Vietnam. The mobile hospitals developed by the U.S. Army Medical Corps has evolved into a unique life-saving force that has not simply relied on a trained staff but also a fast and well-fueled transportation system. This Yank Magazine article will give the reader a good look at how the medics and doctors had to work during the second War to End All Wars:

A portable surgical hospital is a medical unit of four doctors and generally 32 enlisted men. They’re supposed to work directly behind the line of battle and patch up casualties so they can be removed to an evacuation hospital. Sometimes part of the portable hospital personnel have to be removed, too.

Conscientious Objectors
(Yank Magazine, 1944)

Whatever became of the conscientious objectors?
Some of the men who registered as ‘conchies’ with their local selective service boards have been deferred because they are working in essential jobs. About 6,890 conchies have been interned and assigned to Civilian Public Service camps in the States. A handful, just 47, live and work in camps on Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands, the only places outside the continental limits of the States where they may serve. By act of Congress, conscientious objectors may not be sent to foreign lands, but Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands, although overseas, are territories of the U.S.

Click here to read about the British conscientious objectors of World War I.

We have an article that pertains to the Korean War draft-dodgers but it also explains the popular methods used by the W.W. II draft-evaders, as well.

To read an article about American draft dodgers of W.W. II, click here.

Late-War Draft Increase Announced
(Yank Magazine, 1945)

Although the press questioned U.S. Secretary of War Henry L. Stimson (1867 – 1950) as to why the Selective Service Department had been ordered to call-up an additional 100,000 men when it was agreed that the U.S. military was already over strengthened with the full participation of 7,700,000 personnel currently under arms, Stimson made it clear in this notice from the Far East Edition of YANK, that he had his reasons – and this article lists a number of them.

Click here to read about a W.W. II draft board.

To read an article about American draft dodgers of W.W. II, click here.

Social Groups Within the Internment Camps
(U.S. Government, 1943-45)

A list provided by the War Relocation Authority of the seven groups that maintained ties and created various social and educational activities for the interned Japanese-Americans spanning the years 1943 through 1945. The Y.W.C.A., the Boy Scouts and the American Red Cross are just three of the seven organizations.

For years prior to W.W. II and the creation of the Japanese-American internment camps, the people of the United States had been steadily spoon fed hundreds articles detailing why they should be weary of the Japanese presence in North America; if you would like to read one that was printed as late as 1939, click here.

The Earliest Days of Training
(Newsweek Magazine, 1941)

Up by bugle at 5:45 in subfreezing temperature. Breakfast – boiled oatmeal, French toast and syrup, toast, jam, coffee. At 7:30 began ‘psychological test’ for mental alertness (typical question: An orange is a broom, bat, flower, or fruit?). Received complete uniforms. Try-on period after lunch resulted in many misfits, much swapping and revival of old crack about there being only two sizes in the Army – too big and too small…