Existing comment:
World War II:
When Germany invaded Poland on September 1, 1939, many Americans favored neutrality and isolationism to protect their nation from the threat of another world war. The Japanese air attack on the American fleet at Pearl Harbor, in the Hawaiian Islands, on December 7, 1941, put an end to such sentiment. America's declaration of war against Japan was answered with a declaration of war against the United States by Germany.
War-related jobs required thousands of workers, and women entered the workforce in unprecedented numbers. Both blacks and whites operated chapters of the United Service Organizations (USO) and the Red Cross. Schoolchildren bought savings stamps to help finance the war and also collected scrap metal and other salvage items for use in war industries. Existing military installations expanded greatly, and new ones sprang up across the state. By the end of the war, more people had trained at bases in North Carolina than in any other state. World War II was indeed "everybody's war."
North Carolinians of all races enlisted for service by the thousands. All branches of the military accepted women in noncombat roles for the first time. When the war ended in 1945, around 7,000 Tar Heals had died for their country. |