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1945: THE CONQUERING HEROES RETURN

1945: THE CONQUERING HEROES RETURN. Oakmont Sunday Symposium November 11, 2012 Bob Kirk, Presenter. Norman Rockwell captured what GI’s and the folks back home waited for and dreamed about. Memories of Wars Past. Vets in 1945 were better provided for than in 1787. Grand Army of the Republic.

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1945: THE CONQUERING HEROES RETURN

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  1. 1945: THE CONQUERING HEROES RETURN Oakmont Sunday Symposium November 11, 2012 Bob Kirk, Presenter

  2. Norman Rockwell captured what GI’s and the folks back home waited for and dreamed about.

  3. Memories of Wars Past

  4. Vets in 1945 were better provided for than in 1787

  5. Grand Army of the Republic

  6. 1932: WWI vets camp in Washington to get bonuses

  7. Troops under MacArthur disperse the Bonus Army

  8. At last . . . It’s over

  9. 1941-1945: 13 million served • 405,000 American service men and women had died in the war • 670,000 had suffered wounds • Within two years, only 1.5 million remained in the armed services . . . The others were discharged or had died

  10. Japanese envoys accept unconditional surrender

  11. V-J Day August 15, 1945 • Americans were jubilant that the long nightmare was over. This sailor shows his exuberance.

  12. Our heroes return

  13. What the GI’s returned to: • Some food still rationed. Gas rationing ended September 15 • Minimum wage was 40¢ an hour • Women still drew nylons on their legs • 85 million went to the movies weekly • Men wore ties during dinner at home • Most adults smoked

  14. Factories were shut and 2.6 million workers laid off

  15. Economists expected the Depression would return

  16. Wounds - physical and psychological

  17. ‘The Best Years of Our Lives’ (1946)

  18. The GI Bill guaranteed medical care • 670,000 suffered from wounds of various kinds. Many lost the use of limbs, sight, hearing, etc.

  19. 45% of Iraq or Afghanistan vets file for a disability

  20. Post Traumatic Stress Disorder • 83,000 Iraq and Afghanistan vets are hospitalized. Vets suffer flashbacks and nightmares from trauma or battle fatigue. Some suffer from alcoholism.

  21. The Servicemen’s Readjustment Act of 1944 Called “The GI Bill”

  22. FDR signs the GI Bill, 1944

  23. What was in the GI Bill? • A vet was guaranteed his old job back • Medical care was provided • Unemployment insurance -- “The 52-20 Club” • One year of education plus additional months depending on service time • Low-interest loans for business or home

  24. 2,000,000 went to college

  25. Americans had saved $140 billion

  26. Housing had decayed

  27. 1/3 of dwellings lacked toilets

  28. A severe housing shortage

  29. A Golden Age for America, mid-1940s to mid-1970s

  30. Levittown, Long Island - mass-produced houses

  31. A home fit for a veteran and his family • By the end of the war, the US had 28 million adequate housing units for . . . 37 million families. • We desperately needed millions of homes.

  32. 800 square feet for $7,990

  33. Montgomery Village construction, Santa Rosa

  34. Oh, boy! A new car!

  35. 1946-64, 76 million babies

  36. And we all lived happily ever after . . . Well, pretty much . . .

  37. Thank you . . . and thank a veteran for our freedom Bob Kirk

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