Tennessee and World War 2

1. Tennessee and World War 2 The Volunteer State!!

2. Tennesseans Serve • World War II was the greatest armed conflict in history, and Tennessee played a significant role in the Allied victory. • During World War II Tennessee and its citizens contributed generously to the war effort. Many put their lives on the line as soldiers, sailors, and airmen: 315,501 Tennesseans served in the various theaters of the war, and 5,731 lost their lives. • Six were decorated with the nation’s highest award for valor, the Congressional Medal of Honor.

3. Cordell Hull- Tennessean • He is best known as the longest serving Secretary of State, holding the position for 11 years (1933–1944) in the administration of President Franklin Delano Roosevelt during much of World War II. • On the day of the attack, not long after it had begun, Hull received the news that it was taking place. The Japanese ambassadors were waiting to see Hull at that moment. • Hull received the Nobel Peace Prize in 1945 for his role in establishing the United Nations, and was referred to by President Roosevelt as the "Father of the United Nations."

4. General Patton trains in Tennessee • In June 1941, Middle Tennessee was chosen as the location of the first of a series of military maneuvers that featured the combined forces of tanks and infantry, largely because its geography was similar to that of Western Europe. • In these maneuvers, General George S. Patton, who led the 2nd Armored Division, and who would become one of America’s greatest battle commanders, refined his innovative tactics for the aggressive use of tanks that was to become his hallmark.

5. Military Bases • Throughout the war hundreds of thousands of soldiers trained for the war effort at: • Camp Campbell (now Fort Campbell) near Clarksville, (Ky-Tn border) • Camp Forrest near Tullahoma • Camp Tyson, near Paris, Tennessee. • These installations also housed thousands of Axis prisoners.

6. Fort Campbell • The site for Camp Campbell was selected on July 16, 1941, and the survey was completed November 15, 1941, coincidentally the same time the Japanese Imperial Fleet was leaving Japanese home waters for the attack on Pearl Harbor. • Construction of Camp Campbell began on January 12, 1942. Within a year, the reservation designated as Camp Campbell was developed to accommodate one armored division and various support troops, with a total size of 102,414 acres, and billets for 2,422 officers and 45,198 enlisted personnel.

7. Camp Forest • Camp Forrest was ranked among the largest of World War II training facilities in its time. • Camp Forrest not only served to train thousands of our military, but was also the first internment camp in our nation; housing 800 plus alien civilians from January to November 1942. • At this point in time (late 1942 to early 1943) over24,000 prisoners of war were under the watchful eyes of the guard at Camp Forrest.

8. Camp Tyson • Camp Tyson was the nation's only World War II barrage balloon training center. • Established at Paris, Henry County, the camp trained servicemen to fly, build, and repair barrage balloons, which were helium- or hydrogen-filled balloons measuring thirty-five feet in diameter and eighty-five feet in length used in aerial coastal defense. Its purpose was ingenuous: to deny low-level airspace to enemy aircraft.

9. Oak Ridge • Tennessee also helped to usher in the Atomic Age when Oak Ridge was chosen as one of the main sites for the top-secret Manhattan Project. • Many cities have been affected by wars. But Oak Ridge is one of the only cities to ever be entirely created because of a war.

10. Oak ridge has a mission • Separate Uranium 235 -- used in the atomic bomb -- from Uranium 238. • The project succeeded in its mission. • In July 1945, small amounts of Uranium 235 were carried from Oak Ridge to New Mexico, where they were placed in a nuclear bomb known as "Little Boy." • That bomb was dropped on Hiroshima, Japan, on August 6, 1945. • Three days later, a second atomic bomb was dropped on Nagasaki, and a few days later Japan surrendered, ending World War II.

11. War production in Tennessee • In Memphis, major companies changed their product lines to meet wartime demand. • At the Firestone plant, workers accustomed to making car tires changed to producing life rafts and tires for military vehicles. • During much of the war, the Ford plant in Memphis produced parts for airplanes instead of cars. • Other Memphis firms provided products like chemicals, explosive shells, and medicines.

12. Weapons • Tennessee played an important role in producing weapons. • The massive Holston Ordnance Works plant was located near Kingsport. In this factory, workers produced a very dangerous explosive called Research Development Explosive or RDX. • The Milan Ordnance Center in West Tennessee employed around 11,000 people who produced a variety of shell ammunition, boosters, and fuses, and operated an ammonium nitrate plant.

13. Aircraft production • During the war, Nashville became an important center for military aircraft production. • In 1940, a new, very large airplane factory was constructed in Nashville. • During the war, Vultee made planes for both Great Britain and the United States. They built both fighter and bomber airplanes. • Vultee received orders for more than $142 million worth of planes during the war. • This business also quickly made them the largest industrial employer in Middle Tennessee, as employment climbed from 900 in 1941 to more than 7,000 in 1943.