Early World War II: America Enters the War
Roosevelt and the Governments favored actions towards Britain, humanity was affected by the United States entering WWII, protected humanity from the invasion of the Germans around the world.
"I noticed that nothing moved on the beach except one bulldozer. The beach was covered with debris, sunken craft, and wrecked vehicles. We saw many bodies in the water....We jumped into chest-high water and waded ashore. Then we saw that the beach was literally covered with the bodies of American soldiers wearing the blue and gray patches of the 29th Infantry Division."
--Lt. Horace Henderson, 6th Engineer Special Brigade, describing Omaha Beach on June 7.
Major Events:
Lend-Lease Act: Roosevelt proposed the Lend-Lease Act which allowed The United States to lend or lease arms to any country. Roosevelt sent arms to Britain, they promised to repay th4e U.S. after the war.
The Hemispheric Defense Zone: German submarines patrolling the Atlantic Ocean were sinking hundreds of thousands of tons of British shipments each month and their navy didn’t have enough ships to stop them. Because the U.S. was still neutral Roosevelt could not order the U.S. Navy to protect Britain. Instead Roosevelt declared that the entire western half of the Atlantic was part of the Western Hemisphere, and that made it neural ground. Then the U.S. Navy could patrol the western half of the Atlantic, and give the submarines location/coordinates to the British.
September 1941: A German U-Boat or submarine fired on an American destroyer while it was radioing the German submarines locations to the British. Roosevelt gave the orders to “shoot on sight” toward German Submarines. Next month, Germans targeted two American destroyers, one sinking the Reuben-James and killing 115 sailors.
Pearl Harbor: Japan’s surprise attack on December 7, 1941, sank or damaged eight battleships, three cruisers, 188 airplanes, four destroyers, and six other vessels. The attack killed 2,403 Americans, and 1,178 Americans were injured.
Germany and Italy: On December 11, 1941, Germany and Italy both declare war on the United States.
The Hemispheric Defense Zone: German submarines patrolling the Atlantic Ocean were sinking hundreds of thousands of tons of British shipments each month and their navy didn’t have enough ships to stop them. Because the U.S. was still neutral Roosevelt could not order the U.S. Navy to protect Britain. Instead Roosevelt declared that the entire western half of the Atlantic was part of the Western Hemisphere, and that made it neural ground. Then the U.S. Navy could patrol the western half of the Atlantic, and give the submarines location/coordinates to the British.
September 1941: A German U-Boat or submarine fired on an American destroyer while it was radioing the German submarines locations to the British. Roosevelt gave the orders to “shoot on sight” toward German Submarines. Next month, Germans targeted two American destroyers, one sinking the Reuben-James and killing 115 sailors.
Pearl Harbor: Japan’s surprise attack on December 7, 1941, sank or damaged eight battleships, three cruisers, 188 airplanes, four destroyers, and six other vessels. The attack killed 2,403 Americans, and 1,178 Americans were injured.
Germany and Italy: On December 11, 1941, Germany and Italy both declare war on the United States.