LIFE1936-1948

One of the few areas of corporate growth in 1937 was the airline industry. Passengers increased to 1,100,000 that year, up from 474,000 in 1932. The introduction of the DC 2 in 1934 and the DC 3 in 1936 made flying much more comfortable because the planes could fly up to 20,000 feet, were faster, quieter and had much improved ventilation. Prior to this, the Ford Tri-Motor only reached 6,000 feet and the Boeing 80 14,000 feet, both had poor heating/cooling, and were unhealthy. It was not uncommon for air hostesses to contract TB and other diseases in these early planes due to inadequate air circulation. To qualify as an air hostess a woman generally had to be between the ages of 21 to 26, single, stand from five feet to five feet four inches, weigh no more than 115 pounds and be a registered nurse. If she married…like some of the air hostesses in this article…she was terminated. On cross country flights that required overnight stays, the air hostesses had to stay at a hotel in a different town than the one in which the pilots stayed, to avoid any suggestion of impropriety. Most of the passengers in those days were wealthy people and celebrities. While the air hostesses were forbidden to accept tips, they occasionally found money that was discretely left for them by new admirers. At the time of this article there were 270 air hostesses with four major airlines. The heroic actions of a TWA air hostess after a recent crash in the Alleghenies made the air hostess, in the mind of the public, the new “heroine of the skies.” The other two airlines, Pan Am and Eastern Airlines, continued to use stewards until the 1940’s.

The March 31, 1941, cover of LIFE shows a Curtiss Helldiver and calls it the world’s best dive bomber. The aircraft carrier Enterprise is depicted with Douglas TBD torpedo bombers taking off from it’s deck practicing a mock attack. LIFE says, “they might be enemy bombers from an alien aircraft carrier coming in to attack the great Pearl Harbor base.” We know that just over eight months later this is exactly what happened on December 7,1941. The Enterprise was away from Hawaii on December 7th so it never got to defend the base. The Douglas TBD topedo bombers probably wouldn’t have done much good if they had been there. Three squadrons of the TBD’s totaling 41 planes were used against the Japanese fleet in mid 1942 during the Battle of Midway and only six survived. TBD torpedos that hit Japanese ships during the battle were often duds. The Douglas TBD was very susceptible to enemy flak and saw little action after this battle. The Curtiss Helldiver suffered many delays and modifications in it’s development and didn’t see action until November, 1943, at Rabual north of New Guinea. It was underpowered, had a short range, an unreliable electrical system and was often poorly manufactured. It spent most of the war as a trainer or pulling target tugs. LIFE rightly predicted that, “though it has little past to look back on, the aircraft carrier may have a history making future.”  LIFE could not have picked a better example of aircraft carrier effectiveness than the Enterprise.  The Enterprise collected 20 battle stars during WW II, more than any US War Ship.  The Enterprise is arguably the most honored ship in US naval history.

The May 8, 1944, edition of LIFE has a frank and pessimistic article about the failed raid on the town of Dieppe in August, 1942.   Six thousand men, mostly Canadians, walked into “an unmitigated disaster for the Allies.”  “The Germans turned out to be fantastically stronger than the British had expected.”  Even though the British had complete control of the air, “The plain fact was-and is-that direct assault upon a well-defended enemy coastline, is just about the most difficult undertaking in the books.”  Darkly, the article states that, “We have learned much from Dieppe.  But so have Nazis who have been strengthening their defenses ever since.”  Several pictures of captured or dead Allied soldiers are included.  We all know that less than one much later, June 6, 1944, D-Day, the Allies launched the invasion of Europe in Normandy.  The purpose of this article was to communicate to the Nazis that the Allies were plenty worried about the invasion and our resolve was shaky,  as we were about to confront Germany again on the beaches of Europe.  While we don’t know if the article influenced German behavior, we do know that  nearly 160,000  Allied stormed ashore  and began their successful liberation of Europe.  Taken in the context of previous WW II articles about Allied battles that appeared In LIFE, this was the first one that was overtly gloomy.  The US Government, in an effort to build morale on the home front, screened discouraging news and likely would not have permitted such an article unless they were trying to confuse the Germans.

Rita Hayworth graces the Sept. 6, 1941, cover of LIFE in the midst of becoming a triple threat singing, dancing and glamor star. Meanwhile, America’s greatest hero of the 20th Century, Charles Lindbergh, was causing big problems as America was about to tumble into WWII. Lindbergh’s admiration for Germany was palpable. And he revealed his racism as he “expressed the hope that eventually Britain, a Germanized Europe and the U.S. would find themselves co-operating in a mutual “White” front against the more numerous but less skilful races of the world-Yellow, Brown and Black.” Serving as an apologist for Germany, he stated dangerous ideas about might and right. “In periods of satisfaction, ‘right’ becomes associated with the law, while in periods of strife it becomes an ally of force…” “Germany, as a ’strong people dissatisfied with it’s position,’ had turned to that primeval ‘right’ of force.” He led the America First movement that preached isolation and drew adoring crowds. Pearl Harbor put an end to America First and Lindbergh tried to get in the fight. But Roosevelt was furious with him and would have none of it. Later in the war as a civilian in the Pacific front, he flew 50 combat missions and was credited with destroying an enemy plane. Lindbergh also gave valuable aeronautical advice that improved the effectiveness and range of US war planes in the Pacific. After the war Lindbergh was an aviation consultant and had his reputation restored when President Eisenhower made him a Brigadier General in the reserves. Following the death of his wife, Anne Morrow Lindbergh (a pioneering aviator in her own right…and author)in 2001, it was revealed that Lindbergh fathered at least five children with two sisters in Germany. The entire article  is included because Lindbergh’s story is so complex.

This July 4, 1938, cover story features the wedding of a newly minted West Point graduate, Lieut. Louis Nathaniel Dosh to Betty Bloxom, at the West Point Chapel. Lieut. Dosh was eventually ordered to the 57th Infantry in the Philippines where he was captured by the Japanese. He survived the Bataan Death March but was killed by American planes while on a Japanese “Hell Ship.” These ships transported American prisoners and Japanese soldiers to Japan, and on Jan. 20, 1945, as American troops drew closer to the Philippines, his ship was sunk. The American military was aware that American prisoners were being transported to Japan in unmarked ships to be used as forced labor, but made the tough decision that every Japanese ship must be attacked in order to win the war. LIFE also reports on the weddings of prominent people including FDR’s son, John, to Anne Clark. John Roosevelt divorced Anne and later remarried. The marriage scorecard for the other Roosevelt children: FDR, Jr. -5 marriages; James-4 marriages; Elliot-3 marriages; Anna-3 marriages. The Marshall Field, Jr. and Joanne Bass marriage is depicted. They were later divorced and Field married Lynne Templeton, the sister of one of my brother’s friends, in 1965.  Field died later that year of an accidental overdose.

Four years before Pearl Harbor and one week before the beginning of the Rape Of Nanking in which approximately 200,000 Chinese civilians were slaughtered by Japanese soldiers, the Dec. 6, 1937, LIFE features Japan’s conquest of China. It begins with an overview of the Emperor, Hirohito. The article lavishes praise on the quality of the Japanese soldiers and depicts them marching, picking up Chinese women and relaxing while one of the soldiers acts as a clown. The men leading the conquest of Asia are pictured and described as “capable, cultivated, sane gentlemen.” Hirohiro, who came to power in 1926, calls his reign the “Era of Radiant Peace.” It is surprising that this LIFE article treated the Japanese conquests in such a benign, uncritical fashion. It would soon change it’s tune as Japan’s true ambitions revealed themselves. Curiously, the swastika flags in the rear of the third picture denote a Buddhist first-aid organization.

The Hitler Youth was an organization created upon Hitler’s assumption of power in 1933 and grew to 8 million boys by 1939. It’s purpose was to indoctrinate boys about the superiority of Germany and the Aryan race, and Germany’s need for living space. It also served to develop absolute devotion to Adolph Hitler and to harden boys to become future soldiers. In the late 1930’s it became compulsory for boys age 10 and older to join. By 1943 Germany began enlisting boys ages 12 and above into active duty. This article from Oct. 8, 1945, says that “those who were the equivalent of American high school seniors were taken into the army and the two classes below them were taken into the antiaircraft defenses.”  Thousands of these boys became prisoners in the last months of the war and reeducation camps, the “Baby Lager” as the inmates called it, were set up to teach them democracy and standard high school courses that they had missed when schooling stopped in 1943. At this camp near Compiegne in France the teachers were non-Nazi prisoners. The aim was to let the enemy work out it’s own reeducation as much as possible. The boys went to school three days a week and worked three days a week. The bugler, instead of playing taps, played Brahm’s Lullaby.

America is preparing to celebrate it’s first peacetime Christmas in five years. The Dec. 10, 1945, cover story proclaims that women can once again dress up for the holiday season. Several ads depict sheer rapture as servicemen retrun home. The Community Silverplate ad says:

“Today’s the day the stars sing, the sun rides high. Today a wordless glory fills the air.

Today…this day…this prayed and planned for day…this day the man of your heart comes home for keeps.”

Sixteen million Americans answered the call to the colors in WWll and they too dreamed of returning home. For most it was a major readjustment period. “Nervous out of the service” was a common expression. Some wives only knew the youthful soldier they had married before or during the war. Many women gained a new independence working during the war and didn’t want to give it up. Battle fatigue, disabilities, nightmares and other difficulties took their toll. But on “this day”, Dec. 10, 1945, most of the boys were home again and America expressed it’s joy and pride for a job well done.

This April 6, 1942, article describes a shameful chapter in WWII America. Over 120,000 Japanese living on the West Coast (two thirds of whom were American citizens) were forced into internment camps in the wake of the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor. They spent the war years living in tar paper covered barracks hastily constructed in remote areas…mostly on Native American reservations. The expression “It cannot be helped” was often expressed by the interned families and reflected their resignation to their helplessness. It also demonstrated their sense of respect for authority, self discipline and loyalty. The article has several descriptions that must have been both painful and laughable to the internees. They include: “Japanese residents…settled comfortably…prepared to wait out the war in willing and not unprofitable internment;” “The Army hopes this great and unprecedented migration will be as spontaneous and cheerful as its first chapter;” and “…the internees found themselves in a scenic spot of lonely loveliness.” Many Japanese Americans in California (where 90% of Japanese Americans lived) were successful farmers. In the haste to report to internment they often sold their property for much less than its value, and financial records were left behind and lost. The IRS inexplicably destroyed the 1939-1942 tax returns of internees and other property placed in government storage was often lost or stolen. After the war in 1948 $37 million was paid to internees as compensation for property losses, which works out to about $300 per person. President Reagan signed the Civil Liberties Act of 1988 which provided redress of $20,000 for each surviving detainee.

It is the atomic bomb that ended the war for Japan says Japan’s premier, Prince Higashi-Kuni. “This terrific weapon was likely to result in the obliteration of the Japanese people…” On Aug. 6th, 1945, Hiroshima was the first city struck and over 100,000 people perished. Tokyo was mystified that all phone and telegraph contact with Hiroshima suddenly stopped. A young Japanese officer was dispatched by plane to investigate and within 100 miles of the city could see the tremendous atomic cloud. Their plane soon reached the city around which they flew in disbelief. Nagasaki was hit three days later and over 80,000 died. Even more would have been killed in Nagasaki but the first significant bombing raids on the city the week before caused the Japanese to relocate school children to the rural areas. While many criticize America’s decision to use these weapons, it was expected that the US and it’s allies could lose up to one million soldiers during an invasion of the Japanese islands. And even more Japanese would have been killed as well. On LIFE’S cover is General of the Army Douglas MacArthur. He was just appointed Supreme Allied Commander in Japan, a country never before ruled by a foreigner. MacArthur was first pictured on LIFE’S cover Dec. 8th, 1941, the weekend the war began.