Learning goals

1. Learning goals • The student will understand Oklahomans contributions in WWII, the polio epidemic, the veteran’s return, the end of segregation and the reasons why we entered the Korean War.

2. Oklahoma Veterans • August 6, 1945 Enola Gay drops Atomic bomb on Hiroshima in Japan. • This was the first use of nuclear weapon • 3 days later Nagasaki bombed • August 15 Japan surrenders. • Ends WWII-406,000 Americans killed • Almost 500,000 Oklahomans served during WWII • 6400 Oklahomans killed in WWII • Many Oklahomans gained high ranks • Patrick J. Hurley served as secretary of war for President Hoover

3. Oklahoma Veterans con’t. • Clarence Tinker commanded air corps in Hawaii and killed during Battle of Midway • General Lucius Truscott commanded Fifth Army during invasion of France • Lt. General Ray S. McLain commanded the field artillery for the 45th division in invasion of Sicily and commanded 13th Division Field artillery in Normandy. • Was the only man in Army to rise from Civilian to Lieutenant General • Joseph James Clark commanded the aircraft carrier U.S.S. Yorktown in the Pacific

4. Polio Epidemic • 1940’s Polio epidemic hits children hard and when many veterans returned they found that their children, brothers, sisters, wives had lost an arm or a leg due to Polio • Vaccine was perfected in 1955 by Dr. Jonas Salk which pretty much eliminated the disease.

5. After the War • Unemployment rose with the return of Veterans • President Truman warned country that inflation and depression were possible if proper balance was not kept • Prices soared and wages dropped • Rationing continued, especially on sugar and coffee. • Anything rubber was hard to get. Especially tires. • Manufacturers had not made vehicles during the war and when it was over they could not make enough vehicles to catch up and keep up. • Gasoline rationing was lifted so people started traveling more so road building was needed

6. Integrating Higher Education • Cracks began to appear in the wall of segregation which separated white students from African-American students in the state in the late 1940s. Ada Lois Sipuel, a Langston University honor graduate from Chickasha, was denied admission to the University of Oklahoma School of Law in 1946. • Because of the segregation laws passed by Oklahoma’s first legislature, school officials were under penalty of fine and/or imprisonment if they admitted her to a “white” school. • In 1948, the United States Supreme Court ruled that African-American students must be provided the same education privileges as white students, so the state legislature established the “Langston University School of Law for Negroes” in the State Capitol Building.

7. Subsequently, George W. McLaurin, former Langston University faculty member, was admitted to the University of Oklahoma Graduate School, but he was required to sit in separate areas and even to eat at a separate cafeteria table. In 1950, the United States Supreme Court ruled in McLaurin vs. Oklahoma Board of Regents that segregation within the university put McLaurin at a disadvantage and violated his 14th Amendment rights. The decision initiated the complete desegregation of higher education in Oklahoma and was the first in a series of decisions which brought about desegregation of higher education across the nation. Higher Ed cont.

8. The Korean Conflict • Just five years after the end of World War II, another war was declared in Korea. • The 45th Infantry Division was mobilized and sent to Japan for training • The 45th Infantry gained so much territory that the Chinese communists marked them as a formidable enemy and began sending larger and larger units of force to overcome them. • On one occasion, an officer of the 45th, who was a music teacher in the public schools in civilian life, listened carefully to the Chinese bugle signals during battle. At the next attack, when the Chinese infantry was crossing a field in the open, he played their “retreat” signal on a captured Chinese bugle. His rendition sounded so authentic that the Chinese buglers thought it was an order and repeated it. Mass confusion occurred among the advancing communist troops, giving the Thunderbirds, who were outnumbered eight-to-one, the advantage they needed to stop the attack and destroy the Chinese formation. • In April, 1954, the Thunderbirds came home. Once again, they had proved that the 45th Infantry Division could get the job done.

9. 1.) What was the most notable weapon that was used for the first time in World War II? 2.) Who did the United States use this weapon against? a.) China b.) Japan c.) Germany 3.) Home many Oklahomans were killed during WWII? a.) Around 6000 b.) Around 60,000 c.) Around 600,000 4.) What prominent role did Patrick Hurley obtain during in the military? a.) He became the Commander in Chief b.) He became Major General of the 45th Division c.) He became the Secretary of War for President Hoover 5.) What disease turned into an epidemic during period? a.) Polio b.) Smallpox c.) The Black Plague 6.) Who created the vaccine for this disease? a.) Patrick Hurley b.) Lucius Truscott c.) Jonas Salk 7.) Describe one effect that this disease had on people. 8.) What would happen to a school official during this time if he or she admitted an “African American” into a “white” school? a.) They would be thought of as being courageous for following the law although they knew they would have a lot of resistance b.) They could be fined or put in prison for breaking the law c.) Although they were following the law, they still could be fined to racial tensions and denial of the law by many. 9.) What court decision in Oklahoma became the beginning of desegregation for Oklahoma Institutions of higher education? a.) Plessy vs. Ferguson b.) Brown vs. Oklahoma Board of Regents c.) Mc Laurin vs. Oklahoma Board of Regent 10.) What conflict broke out just five years after WWII had ended? a.) The Vietnam War b.) The War in the Pacific c.) The Korean War Chapter 21 Quiz

10. 1.) What was the most notable weapon that was used for the first time in World War II? 2.) Who did the United States use this weapon against? 3.) Home many Oklahomans were killed during WWII? a.) Around 6000 b.) Around 60,000 c.) Around 600,000 4.) What prominent role did Patrick Hurley obtain during in the military? a.) He became the Commander in Chief b.) He became Major General of the 45th Division c.) He became the Secretary of War for President Hoover 5.) What disease turned into an epidemic during period? 6.) Who created the vaccine for this disease? 7.) Describe one effect that this disease had on people. 8.) What would happen to a school official during this time if he or she admitted an “African American” into a “white” school? a.) They would be thought of as being courageous for following the law although they knew they would have a lot of resistance b.) They could be fined or put in prison for breaking the law c.) Although they were following the law, they still could be fined to racial tensions and denial of the law by many. 9.) What court decision in Oklahoma became the beginning of desegregation for Oklahoma Institutions of higher education? 10.) What conflict broke out just five years after WWII had ended? Chapter 21 Quiz