scholarly journals An American-Made Miracle: The Politicization of Penicillin During World War II

2018 ◽  
Vol 10 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Jordan Herst
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
World War Ii ◽  
The United States ◽  
Home Front ◽  
World War ◽  
Venereal Diseases ◽  
War Effort ◽  
The Government ◽  
The Military ◽  
Alexander Fleming

The discovery of penicillin by Alexander Fleming in 1928 revolutionized the way infections were treated. In the context of World War II, the government of the United States politicized the production and use of penicillin as yet another weapon to win the war. It was carefully rationed on the home front, while being used with reckless abandon in the treatment battle wounds and venereal diseases on the battlefield. Penicillin was described as a miracle drug that would be able to cure everyone, when in reality it was only being used to benefit the military and the American war effort, at the expense of civilian lives.

Epilogue

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Colin F. Baxter
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
World War Ii ◽  
The United States ◽  
World War ◽  
Total War ◽  
War Effort

The extraordinary story of RDX during World War II is composed of many striking chapters, one of which is the unprecedented collaboration between Britain, Canada, and the United States. At each stage, however, the proponents of RDX had to surmount formidable technical and human obstacles before the super-explosive and its offspring, Composition B and Torpex, could make an impact on the Allies’ war effort. Although researchers at the Woolwich Arsenal had desensitized the dangerous explosive by mixing it with TNT and some beeswax, the Ministry of Supply was unable to supply the vast quantities that were needed for total war....

Demilitarization and Democratization in the Post–World War II World

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Stephanie Trombley Averill
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
World War Ii ◽  
Soviet Union ◽  
Atomic Bomb ◽  
The United States ◽  
Federal Republic Of Germany ◽  
World War ◽  
The Soviet Union ◽  
United States Occupation ◽  
The Military

This chapter looks at how, in the former Axis powers of Japan and Germany, the United States occupation authorities initially pursued policies that treated democratization and demilitarization as virtually synonymous. They believed a democracy could not flourish in either Japan or the Federal Republic of Germany until the military traditions had been purged from their national character and consciousness. The former aggressors faced total disarmament. Initial plans—embodied most drastically by the Morgenthau Plan to turn Germany into a pastoral country—were severe and uncompromising. However, once the Soviet Union had successfully acquired the atomic bomb, the United States concluded that measured rearmament in both countries was essential for the defense of democracy and the free world.

scholarly journals G.I. BILL OF RIGHTS: IMPACT ON THE IMAGE OF THE VETERAN IN COLLECTIVE CONSCIOUSNESS

2021 ◽  
pp. 14-17
Author(s):  
M. Bazaieva
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
World War Ii ◽  
The United States ◽  
Educational Programs ◽  
Bill Of Rights ◽  
World War ◽  
World War Ii Veterans ◽  
The Us ◽  
The Usa ◽  
The Government

The article explores the incipience of veterans' policies in the United States of America during 1940-1956. This period is notable in veterans' history. This is caused not only by social realities after World War II but by the implementation of brand-new fundamental principles in process of forming veterans' policies. These principles opened a new page in interactions between the government and the veteran community. The article analyzes drafting the Servicemen's Readjustment Act of 1944, commonly known as the G.I. Bill of Rights, as well as public discussions around it initiated by President Roosevelt's Administration. One of the main actors of the process was American Legion, influential conservative veterans' organization. The law presented by Legion was passed by Congress. The Act took effect on June 22, 1944, and lasted until 1956. G.I. Bill of Rights guaranteed numerous benefits for veterans in variable spheres of social policies, including medical care, education, housing and business loans, unemployment compensations. The most significant effect had educational programs of G.I. Bill. About 8 million American veterans, including women and African Americans, exercised their right to attend schools, colleges, and universities. Educational programs had great implications both for the veterans' population and social affairs, especially the educational system in the United States. Higher education became more widespread and democratic after the implementation of the G.I. Bill. World War II veterans had the opportunity to realize their potential in different fields, in particular in the political area. G.I. Bill of Rights had a great impact on forming the image of the veteran in the USA. The Act demonstrated the new role of veterans' policies in the context of government activities. Besides, thanks to the educational programs of the G.I. Bill veteran community became a proactive social group that played an important role in the US policy-making in the second half of the 20th century.

scholarly journals Military Optometry from World War I to the Present

2021 ◽  
Vol 52 (1) ◽  
pp. 4-8
Author(s):  
W. Howard McAlister ◽  
Jeffrey L. Weaver ◽  
Jerry D. Davis ◽  
Jeffrey A. Newsom
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
World War Ii ◽  
World War I ◽  
Armed Forces ◽  
The United States ◽  
United States Military ◽  
World War ◽  
Eye Health ◽  
The Military ◽  
Good Vision

Optometry has made significant contributions to the United States military for over a century. Assuring good vision and eye health of soldiers, sailors, airmen and marines is critical to maximizing the military functions necessary to achieve victory. There was little organization or recognition of the profession in World War I, but optometrists were essential in achieving the mission. Recognition of the profession of optometry was still limited in World War II but it was improving, especially with commissioning as officers occurring in the Navy. Through the Korean and Vietnam Wars, optometry grew in stature and strength with all services eventually commissioning all optometrists, and Army optometrists were assigned to combat divisions. Continuing through the more recent conflicts in the middle east, the profession has continued to make an impact and has become an essential part of the armed forces of the United States. Doctors of optometry are now an integral part of the Department of Defense. The nation cannot field an effective fighting force today without the dedicated performance of these officers.

scholarly journals “Doing Their Bit”: The USO in New Jersey During World War II

2021 ◽  
Vol 7 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-18
Author(s):  
Patricia Chappine
Keyword(s):  
World War Ii ◽  
Emotional Labor ◽  
Local Level ◽  
Home Front ◽  
Professional Baseball ◽  
World War ◽  
Social Constructs ◽  
War Effort ◽  
Feminine Ideals ◽  
The Military

The participation of NJ women during World War II encompassed a wide array of new challenges and responsibilities. Not only were women moving into newly opened employment opportunities, but they also joined military branches, worked for the defense industry, and even played professional baseball. However, paid positions were only part of the story. Volunteerism was a significant, even integral part of the war effort, both on the home front and abroad. For women who volunteered as hostesses, the USO upheld feminine ideals of emotional labor and caregiving, emphasizing the activities that prepared young women to be wives and mothers.  The ideological safety of USO work during WWII has served as a barrier to comprehensive academic consideration of their contributions on a national, regional, and local level. Demographic variations of USO clubs have yet to be analyzed comprehensively on a state-by-state basis. Research on NJ’s USO groups forms a unique narrative of women’s volunteerism and civic engagement, which upheld social constructs of femininity while impacting the war effort, especially the morale of the military, significantly.

World War II

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Amanda L. Tyler
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
World War Ii ◽  
The United States ◽  
Japanese American ◽  
World War ◽  
Martial Law ◽  
Relocation Centers ◽  
The Face ◽  
Entire History ◽  
The Military

The bombing of Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941, ushered the United States into World War II. Within hours, and suspension and martial law came to rule the Hawaiian Territory. On the mainland, the military imposed curfews, designated huge portions of the western United States to be military areas of exclusion, and ultimately created “relocation centers” across the west to detain over 120,000 persons of Japanese ancestry, including over 70,000 citizens. As this chapter explores, in the face of serious constitutional questions about the propriety of martial law, internment of citizens, and military trials of civilians, constitutional considerations generally gave way to war hysteria. But, as many key government actors recognized at the time, the detention of Japanese American citizens violated the Suspension Clause, standing as it did at odds with the entire history of the Clause. As challenges to the relevant military policies spilled over into the courts, the institution arguably best situated to identify and highlight their constitutional infirmities—the Supreme Court—never did so, leaving this episode standing as both a dangerous and deeply problematic precedent in American constitutional history.

Some contributions of the Department of Veterans Affairs to the epidemiology of multiple sclerosis

2008 ◽  
Vol 14 (8) ◽  
pp. 1007-1012 ◽  
Author(s):  
JF Kurtzke
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Multiple Sclerosis ◽  
World War Ii ◽  
The United States ◽  
Veterans Affairs ◽  
Department Of Veterans Affairs ◽  
World War ◽  
Class 1 ◽  
Main Series ◽  
The Military

The first class 1 treatment trial ever conducted in multiple sclerosis (MS) was a Veterans Administration Cooperative Study. This led us to explore MS in the military–veteran populations of the United States in three main series: Army men hospitalized with final diagnoses of MS in World War II, all veterans of World War II and the Korean Conflict, and veterans of later service up to 1994. In each series, all cases had been matched with pre-illness military peers. These series provide major information on its clinical features, course and prognosis, including survival, by sex and race (white men and women; black men), as well as risk factors for occurrence, course, and survival. They comprise the only available nationwide morbidity distributions of MS in the United States. Veterans who are service-connected for MS by the Department of Veterans Affairs and matched with their military peers remain a unique and currently available resource for further clinical and epidemiological study of this disease.

Strategies for SALT

1971 ◽  
Vol 23 (2) ◽  
pp. 171-188 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jerome H. Kahan
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
World War Ii ◽  
Soviet Union ◽  
The United States ◽  
World War ◽  
The Soviet Union ◽  
Political Relations ◽  
Strategic Balance ◽  
The Military

On November 17, 1969, after a three-year delay, the United States and the Soviet Union initiated Strategic Arms Limitation Talks (SALT). Involving strategic systems and policies vital to the security of both superpowers, their allies, and the world, these talks have the potential of becoming the most important series of United States-Soviet negotiations since World War II. They can affect not only the military-technical aspects of the strategic balance but United States-Soviet political relations and the future role of nuclear weapons. Given the complexity and sensitivity of the subject, it is not surprising that negotiations are still continuing. Even if an early, limited agreement is reached, SALT meetings can be expected to span a period of many years.

Victors Defeated

2020 ◽  
pp. 32-62
Author(s):  
Martin Crotty ◽  
Neil J. Diamant ◽  
Mark Edele
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
United Kingdom ◽  
World War Ii ◽  
World War I ◽  
The United States ◽  
World War ◽  
Simple Correlation ◽  
The United Kingdom ◽  
War Effort

This chapter look at cases that complicate any simple correlation between victorious wars and veterans' high postwar status. It examines the United States and the United Kingdom after World War I, the United Kingdom after World War II, Soviet veterans after both world wars, and China. It also elaborates how victory did not prevent many former soldiers from feeling betrayed by their governments, and often by society as well. The chapter discusses American World War I veterans that point to some gains after a limited contribution to the war effort and after many years of agitation. It describes the United Kingdom, long-suffering frontoviki in the USSR, and China's veterans that languished in obscurity for decades despite having paid a far higher price for their victory.

No Mercy

2020 ◽  
pp. 209-241
Author(s):  
Dominic D. P. Johnson
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
World War Ii ◽  
The United States ◽  
World War ◽  
Complex Roots ◽  
The Pacific ◽  
War Effort ◽  
Eastern Cultures ◽  
At Home

This chapter argues that the United States was able to persist and prevail in the long and brutal Pacific campaign against the Japanese in World War II because of the in-group/out-group bias. It recounts how the group prejudice helped boost support for the war effort among citizens at home, the cohesion of soldiers, sailors, and airmen in the field, and the commitment and determination of leaders. It also describes the Pacific campaign of World War II that had a strong overtone of clashing Western and Eastern cultures, with vastly different worldviews and conceptions of themselves and each other. The chapter analyses the complex roots and widespread expressions of prejudice and racism on both sides. It refers to John Dower, who emphasized that group biases are ever present, but are directed at whoever becomes the most salient rival of the day.

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