Buy War Bonds, poster, 1942, from Patch-NA - 1

Japanese-American internment from Life 1942/04/06

Fireside Chat on the "Progress of the War" from FDRL 1942/02/23

NYT 2/23/42 - med - bg

Doolittle flies the first B-25 off USS Hornet, Apr. 18, photo from FDRL

FDR gives Medal of Honor to Doolittle in DC May 19, from FDRL

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USS Lexington sunk at Coral Sea, from ILN 1942/06/20 - before as CV2 in 1927 - fire

Jan. 1 - Declaration of United Nations - document

• result of Arcadia conference FDR & Churchill previous 2 weeks
• "full resources" pledged against Tripartite Pact
• cooperation and unity, no separate peace
• new ABDA command under Archibald Wavell

Jan. 6 - FDR's State of the Union speech

• asked Congress for $56 billion, the largest budget in American history.
• "This means taxes and bonds, and bonds and taxes."
• Series E "Defense" bonds sold since May 1, 1941, now called "War" bonds
• Carole Lombard died in plane crash Jan. 16 after bond rally
• massive advertising campaign by AdCo

Feb. 19 - Exec Order 9066 ordered internment of all Japanese-Americans - document

• 110,000 American citizens of Japanese ancestry in the 48 states, most in California
• WRA exhibit from U of Arizona - map
• Heart Mountain WY
• Manzanar NHS
• Tule and Topaz from U of Utah
• Camp Harmony Puyallup Assembly Center in Seattle
• America's Concentration Camps photo collages by Masumi Hayashi
• Japanese Relocation film produced by WRA

Feb. 23 - FDR's Washington's Birthday radio fireside chat - document

• "This war is a new kind of war ... look at your map"
• Map in 1942 Fortune magazine
• Japan sub shelled Santa Barbara during speech
• article on the shelling of Ellwood beach 12 miles west of Santa Barbara by the sub I-17; the 16 shells fired caused no injuries and only $500 damage to a shed and catwalk at the seaside Barnsdall-Rio Grande Oil Co. field along Goleta Beach.
• FDR sought public support for mobilization.

Feb. 25 - Lexington tried to raid Rabaul, but driven off

• Halsey and Enterprise raided Wake, Marcus Islands
• some success, but minimal damage

Mar. 10 - Lexington and Yorktown raided Papua landings at Salamaua, Lae

• flew from south through gap in the Owen Stanleys

Apr. 18 - Doolittle Raid

• 16 bombers B25 from Marc Mitscher's USS Hornet - 666 miles to Tokyo
• FDR Apr. 21 press conference called it "Shangri-la"
• idea came from planners on Adm. King's staff
• Hornet commissioned Oct. '41
• to refuel at Chinese airfields then 800 mi to Chungking
• but Chiang not told
• Mar. 31 left San Francisco - refueld 1000 miles from Japan
• Hornet was sighted by fishing picket boats - planes took off early
• Halsey's TF sunk 3 patrol ships
• sub Thresher sunk freighter off Yokohama harbor
• sub Trout hit 3 ships
• Doolittle 1st to takeoff - 460' deck - 80 fliers (71 survived)
• 5 ended up in Russia
• 8 captured by Japan - 3 shot - 1 died in prison
• 250,000 Chinese killed in 3-month campaign - airfields destroyed
• book 30 Seconds over Tokyo by Ted Lawson
• shocked Japan - approval given to Yamamoto's Midway plan
• Doolittle's raiders were true heroes of the early war, as were the men and women of Corregidor, not manufactured heroes like Collin Kelly, Jr. - article
• press reaction to Doolittle mission enflamed racism

Battle of Coral Sea - May 7-8

• Nimitz sent Lexington, Yorktown under Jack Fletcher
• 1st naval action fought entirely with aircraft
• U.S. lost 33 planes, shot down 43 Japan planes
• Lexington sunk May 8 when small pump motor overheated, ignited gasoline and fumes below deck
• Yorktown damaged, rushed to Pearl for repairs, would fight at Midway
• poor coordination with MacArthur in Australia
• 2 Japan carriers were damaged, would not go to Midway
• battle defended New Guinea; U.S. and Australians kept Port Moresby
• map showing location of battle from ILN May 16

map from ILN 1942/04/11 - bg

Next - Midway

Sources:

• Dallek, Robert. Franklin D. Roosevelt and American Foreign Policy, 1932-1945. New York: Oxford University Press, 1979, 1995. 671 p.
• Keegan, John. The Second World War. London: Hutchinson, 1989.

Links:

• WWII Conferences
  
• Pacific Map - big