**
American United States Army U.S. Army World War II -- 1942
United States Army: World War II -- America Enters the War (1942)
Figure 1.--The Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor brought America into the War, something that most Americans did not want. As a result, America was unprepared for war. Thanks to President Roosevelt there were a painfully few divisions to throw into the military balance in 1942. They helped stop the Axis advance, but primarily because the Germans and Japnese were mired deep into the Soviet Union and China. Here is one of those visions. We see see William L. Sherman, Jr., third son of Staff Sgt, and Mrs. William Sherman. He is is saluting American troops from Fort Sam, going off to war as they march through Alamo Plaza in San Antonio, Texas on July 1, 1942. Notice that they still have World War I helmets. The first Americn units go go into combat still had to use a a lot of World War I equioment.
Thanks to two wide oceans, most of America's military assets and forces were beyond the range of enemy attack. This had not been the case of the other major belligerent countries (Poland, France, Britain, and the Soviet Union). The exception was the Pacific Fleet and the Army forces in the Philippines. The Japanese launched a stunning attack on Pearl, but only succeeded on temporarily incapacitating largely obsolete battleships. The Japanese also destroyed large numbers of aircraft and cut off the U.S. Army forces on the Philippines. They were the only force that put up any effective resistance to the Japanese onslaught after Pearl (December 1941-May 1942). Unfortunately, Gen MacArthur retired into the Bataan Peninsula without prepositional supplied. And as a result of Japanese naval dominance could not be resupplied. The result was the horrific Bataan Death March (March 1942). The inability of the Axis to bring the War to America meant that the U.S. Army could continue the build up began with the peace time draft. Unlike World I, America and begun a peace-time draft a year before Pearl Harbor. It was a limited draft, but it was as beginning. And there would be little or no interference from Axis military forces as America began a huge expansion of its military and geared up the Arsenal of Democracy. Despite their Japanese attack, the United States had already decided on a Germany-first strategy. Available forces were rushed to Britain as show of support and freeing up British forces. A journalist working in Britain recalls seeing the first boatload of American infantry arriving in Britain (January 1942). They were an Iowa National Guard unit, the 43th infantry. They landed in Belfast still wearing the old World War I helmets. They were singing, "Ioway--Ioway--Out Where the Tall Corn Grows". The journalist writes, "I hoped with all my heart that the men who led them knew what they were doing. They seemed a little dewy behind the ears, almost surprised that they were overseas so far from Iowa where they might soon have to fight an enemy who wanted to kill them," [MacVane, p.75.] Both the Germans and Japanese believed that America would not be able to enter the War until well into 1943. Some German estimates were even longer. They proved to be wrong. In the Pacific the United States bombed Tokyo (April 1942), stopped a Japanese invasion force in the Coral Sea, cut the heart out of the First Air Fleet (June), and finally seized Guadalcanal (August). Most of this was done by the Navy/Marines. The Army moved forces into Australia, and various South Pacific Islands. The Pacific theater was divided into a Army and Navy sectors. The 1st Marine Divsion on a shoe-string managed to stop the Japanese on Guadalcanal. The Marine Corps was, howover, a very small force. To defeat the Axis on the ground, a hugely expanded army was required. In Europe the Army's main focus was building up the 8th Air Force and than invading Axis-held North Africa -- the Torch Offensive (November 1942). President Roosevelt did not normally get involved in strategy, but in this case he did. He was determined that America had to get into combat somewhere in the European area during 1942. Strangely, Gen. Marshall opposed Torch and was already talking about a Cross-Channel invasion. Torch was not only important strategically, but provided a combat environment in which the indexperienced, untested U.S. Army could cut its teeth beyond the really effective range of German arms--a huge advantage that earlier German victims did not have.
Sources
MacVane, John. On the Air in World War II (William Morrow and Company: New York, 1979), 384p.
