Newsweek

Articles from Newsweek

Spiritual Warfare (Newsweek Magazine, 1942)

For the believers in this world, it is very easy to see World War II as a spiritual conflict waged against the righteous by the evil forces of darkness. The atheist Nazis were truly having their way with the lukewarm Christians who filled the ranks of the European Armies – up until the arrival of a particular North American army whose motto is In God We Trust. Even to this day, the U.S. Military holds the record as having built more churches than any other institution (every base, fort and naval installation had one). This article reports that the U.S.Army did not simply deliver weaponry to our Chinese allies, they delivered millions of Bibles, too.

The Battle of the Coral Sea (Newsweek & Yank Magazines, 1942 – 3)

From the 4th through the 8th of May, 1942, the Japanese and American fleets exchanged blows in their first major engagement. The Americans won, but not by much; the most important battle would take place four weeks later at Midway. But the Yanks were happy with the way it turned out nonetheless:

It was a victory all right – but it was not as decisive as it sounded, to a jubilant America. For in the north in the mandated islands the main Japanese Fleet still stood ready for action at any moment – a fleet as yet largely unscathed, a fleet that has always come back for more, a fleet that does not like the taste of defeat.


Read about the Battle of Leyte Gulf…

The Communist on Capitol Hill (Newsweek Magazine, 1945)

Although his membership in the Communist Party would not be known until he had already been out of the House of Representatives for six years, Hugh De Lacy (1910 – 1986) was easily recognized by his colleagues as quite the radical…


No doubt De Lacy’s favorite presidential candidate was the American socialist Norman Thomas – and you can read about him here…

She Lead The WAACs (Newsweek Magazine, 1944)

Here is the skinny on Colonel Oveta Culp Hobby (1905 – 1995). This article begins at a crucial point in her life, when she took charge of the Women’s Army Auxiliary Corps (later the Women’s Army Corps). With no prior military experience, Hobby entered the U.S. Army as a major and immediately began organizing the Women’s Army Auxiliary into an efficient clerical element within the army. Her abilities were evident and she was soon elevated to the rank of colonel; in a similar light, the skills and abilities of the WAACs were also recognized and they, too, were given more challenging jobs. After the war, Hobby went on to distinguish herself in a number of other government positions.


Click here to read about WAC accomplishments by the end of 1945.

Influenza Returns (Newsweek Magazine, 1944)

During the final year of the First World War, the Influenza Pandemic absolutely ravaged the American home front – it made a return visit to the W.W. II home front during the winter of 1943 – 44, but not to the same degree.


Click here to read about the 1918 – 1920 outbreak of influenza in the United States.

Posters For Encouragement (Newsweek Magazine, 1942)

There were many varieties of posters to be found on the American home front of W.W. II – most depicting sweaty barrel-chested young men. Yet in the factories another type was prevalent, these were the ones that showed the non-heroic faces of the average American worker. Below these images would be found simple quotes declaring their unique patriotic reasons for laboring on the production lines. This article recalls who dreamed them up and how popular they were.

Adultery on the Home Front (Newsweek Magazine, 1945)

The overlords of the Illinois justice system became so fed-up with the growing divorce rate in their state as a result of wives who stepped-out while their husbands were fighting overseas, and they decided to do something about it. The Illinois Attorney General proposed a plan:


Penalties for conviction range from $500 fine or a year in jail or both for the first offense to $3,000 fine or three years in jail or both for a third conviction.

The Addict’s Plight (Newsweek Magazine, 1942)

The war in the Pacific interrupted the flow of illegal narcotics to the United States. By the Spring of 1942 opioids were becoming scarcer and the prices were predicted to rise. Drug suppliers turned to an untested source closer to home: Latin America.


Click here to read aboutdrug addiction in the Twenties.

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