World War Two

For the journalist who wrote the attached article, it seemed to have been a pretty basic assignment. The subject was General Hideko Tojo (1884 - 1948) of the Imperial Japanese Army and his promotion to the office of prime minister. The correspondent wrote about the political climate in Tokyo, Tojo's family line, his education and his previous commands. It could be expected that Tojo would be yet another in a line senior officials who would continue bullying China. The writer could not know, however, how this man would soon alter the course of his life and millions of other people: six weeks later Tojo would give the green light to a plan that would involve attacking the Philippines, Guam, Malaya, Singapore, Hong Kong, Wake Island, and Pearl Harbor.

General Eisenhower's Boys (See Magazine, 1945)

When this article appeared in print the war in Europe had been over for three and a half months. Nonetheless, the editors at See Magazine wanted the home front to know how thorough General Eisenhower was at understanding the matters big and small under his command. In the attached photo-essay you will see pictures of Eisenhower listening intently as privates and NCOs speak knowingly about their concerns - shaking their hands, and thanking those who were assigned the thankless jobs.

 

One Year of Military Expansion (Newsweek Magazine, 1942)

When President Franklin Roosevelt declared war on December 8, 1941 - he was not the only one to do so; judging by the content of the attached article, and numerous others on this site, 100,000 other Americans did the same thing. This article is about the rapid growth of the United Sates military that took place between December of 1941 through December of 1942 - and boy, did it grow.

 

When Bushido Took a Back Seat (Collier's Magazine, 1945)

During the closing days of the Okinawa campaign, Japanese infantry decided to treat the much-ballyhooed Bushido warrior code as if it was a plate of week-old sushi.

"The mass-surrenders were a circus for our troops. It became a race to see which outfit could take the most prisoners. And Major General Lemuel C. Shepard's Sixth Marine Division won the championship with 3,279 prisoners, while Major General Archibald V. Arnold's 7th Army Division was runner-up with 2,627."

More about the Battle of Okinawa can be read here.

 

The Japanese Planned to Fight Until the End (PM Tabloid, 1945)

The American magazines and newspapers of late April and early May, 1945, were all about the end of the German Army and now its time to clobber the Japanese. The attached article, from May 6, addressed the subject that this would not be an easy task. If the Atom Bomb hadn't come along, the Pentagon believed the war would have gone on for another two or three years, and the Japanese were determined to fight until the end:

"The influential Tokyo paper Sangyo Kezei said editorially on April 30: 'Japan will fight on regardless of any sudden changes in Europe.'"

A similar article can be read here.