LIFE1936-1948

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.

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.

These peaceful scenes of Tarawa belie the horrific battle that took place four months before on this central Pacific coral atoll in late November, 1943, between Japanese forces and US Marines. The Battle of Tarawa was the next major offensive in the Pacific after Guadalcanal. Heavy US naval bombardment and carrier-based bomber strikes were largely ineffective against the dug in Japanese. The use of amtracs to move troops on the beach was found to be effective and was put to good use in later engagements. The Marines lost one thousand killed and over 2,000 wounded as they fought their way to victory through hundreds of pill boxes, heavy artillery and tanks. It was critical that the US take Tarawa to set up forward air bases to support operations across the mid-Pacific, and they did. The Japanese lost over 4,500 defenders.  Not one of Tarawa’s 3,000 residents was killed during the battle since the fighting took place on just one heavily fortified island.  Today Tarawa has about 32,000 residents in this densely populated group of islands in Micronesia. “Bloody Tarawa” is another heroic chapter in US Marine Corps history.

Barely three months after Pearl Harbor America was looking for some good news and they found it among this group of newly minted war heroes. As we read the exploits of the men cited in the above Roll of Honor it is clear that their bravery was achieved while American forces were often overwhelmed early in the war. And no hero electrified America more than Lt. Butch O’Hare who shot down five Japanese heavy bombers with his Grumman Wildcat fighter. As the lone available fighter in the air to protect the aircraft carrier Lexington, O’Hare was suddenly faced with a V formation of nine Japanese heavy bombers heading straight for the Lexington. He charged his fighter into their midst, shot down five, and badly damaged a sixth. The Lexington was saved and O’Hare landed his plane safely back on it, although he had to dodge a wild burst from one of the Lexington’s own anti aircraft guns as he landed. O’Hare was awarded the Medal of Honor for his daring. He was shot down and killed in November, 1943, near the Gilbert Islands. In 1949 Orchard Airport in Chicago was renamed O’Hare Airport and hundreds of thousands of Chicagoans turned out for the ceremony.