Women

The government began a massive campaign to bring women, especially married women, into the work place - and not just as clerical workers. Women were now needed to weld, rivet, and solder in factories, shipyards and munitions plants.

Propaganda posters were issued to encourage women to come and support the war effort. One of the more popular icons is "Rosie the Riveter," who originated with an airplane factory worker named Rosina Bonavita. Riveters assembled the thousands of airplanes produced during the war. They worked in pairs: one woman shot the rivet into the metal plates with a gun, and another "bucked" or flattened, it on the opposite side.

In the fall of 1943, 25% of workers in the Kansas City war plants were women.

In 1945, as the peak of war mobilization was over. Slowly the number of jobs in defense industries declined. Propaganda began telling women war workers to return to their homes. The men had been promised their jobs when they came back. Some women left voluntarily, but most were laid off. A year after WWII ended, three and a half million women had voluntarily - or involuntarily - left the labor force

Native Americans

Native Americans set a national standard for registering for the draft. 99% of all those eligible registered. Culminating in more than 44,500 who served in uniform by the end of the war (more than 1/10 of the Native-American population).

Haskell Institute sent 1000 men and women to the armed forces. In fact, Haskellís National Guard unit, Battery E, 127th Field Artillery troops were the first in the country to be called into service.

African Americans

African Americans had the "Double V" campaign: one V for victory overseas and the other V for victory on the home front against discrimination. They marched on Washington to persuade them for jobs and banning discrimination, resulting in the Fair Employment Practices Commission (FEPC), set up by Roosevelt.

Certainly Word War II was the catalyst for the civil rights movement later on for African Americans. Some contributions of African Americans in the US Army & Army Air Force are particularly noteworthy: Red Ball Express, the Tuskegee Airmen, the 777th and 999th Field Artillery Battalions. The 761st Tank Battalion was the first black armored unit to go into combat action. The 93rd Division was the only black division to see service in the Pacific. Although never used in combat, the 555th Parachute Infantry Company was noted for its specialized training.