What Was Georgia S Role in World War II

What was Georgia’s role in World War II? (SS8H9b)

I. People

A. ______Georgians served in the US military between 1941 and 1945.

B. Richard Russell – US Senator from Georgia from ______until ______, when he died. Through his Senate career, he helped Georgia get ______military installations. He was chairman of the Senate ______committee. At one point he was the President Pro-Tempore of the US Senate, making him ______in line to the Presidency. His knowledge of defense issues and influence in other areas made him very powerful.

C. Carl Vinson – served in the US House from ______until ______. He also worked to beef up our national defense and is considered the “Father of the ______.” He was chairman of the House ______Committee and then the House ______Committee. Worked with FDR to expand naval aviation that resulted in thousands of new planes being built, hundreds of pilots being trained and 20 air bases.

II. Facilities

A. Bell Aircraft or ______was located in ______. It was responsible for the building of the ______. The plant produced its first plane in ______and at its peak of production employed ______workers. ______of the employees were women, ______were African-American and ______percent were physically disabled. After the war ended, the government canceled the contract for the B-29s and the plant was idle until Lockheed Corporation took it over and began refurbishing B-29s. Later, it began building the ______, a transport plane, as well as other planes for the Air Force.

B. Shipyards were opened in the port cities of ______and ______. These shipyards employed more civilians than any other wartime industry in Georgia. These two shipyards constructed almost 200 ______. Savannah produced ______ships in 3 years, while the Brunswick shipyard produced ______in only 2 years. These ships were used to transport troops and goods to the European fronts.

C. Military bases were located near almost every major city in the state. Many soldiers from across the country got their first visit to Georgia while experiencing ______in the military. ______, near Columbus, is the home of the U.S. Infantry. It trained tens of thousands of soldiers that were sent all over the world to fight. ______, near Warner Robins, started out as the Georgia Air Depot. Its construction was approved in June 1941. It was located in a former ______and construction sped up after the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor. During WWII, Robins AFB ______every major plane used by the Army Air Corps and continues in that function today. ______began in ______as an antiaircraft

training facility. The military used workers from the ______program to help clear off the land that would become the base. The first troops arrived in the fall of 1940. For a time during the war, Fort Stewart was also used to house ______who had been captured in North Africa. ______near Augusta trained ______infantry divisions during WWII. Once again, ground had just been broken on this facility when Pearl Harbor was attacked in 1941, speeding up the opening of this huge installation. Besides training soldiers that would be sent to Europe to fight, Fort Gordon also housed captured POWs. At the end of the war, more than ______military personnel were processed for discharge at Fort Gordon. Today, Fort Gordon trains more military personnel than any other US Army facility. Other facilities in Georgia that played a role in WWII were ______outside of Atlanta, ______near Savannah, and Valdosta’s ______Air Force Base.