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Bushnell Days: The US in World War II

The US in World War II

WWII In HD: America Enters World War II | History

With the bombing of Pearl Harbor, the United States entered World War II, and the size of its army exploded from less than 200,000 to over 11 million.

These paratroopers are preparing for the D-Day invasion of Nazi-occupied Normandy, France, on June 6, 1944. The operation was successful in turning the tide of the war, but Bushnell General Military Hospital treated a huge influx of amputee veteran patients who were casualties of the invasion.

World War II began on September 1, 1939, when Nazi Germany invaded neighboring Poland. The bombing of Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941, is often seen as the beginning of the United States’ involvement in World War II. Even before Pearl Harbor, however, the US government knew that the United States would probably be dragged into the international conflict.

Bushnell General Military Hospital, seen here from the south, was built to serve amputees from the West Coast and Intermountain West in WWII.

The bombing of Pearl Harbor, pictured here, shocked the American public and propelled the United States into World War II.

The country’s first peacetime draft began in September 1940 with the intention of building up the armed forces in case the United States did join the war. Over 10,000,000 men and 350,000 women served in the military, and millions more worked in war-related industries or supported the war effort through rubber and metal drives, war bond purchases, victory gardens, and other war-related activities. Over 400,000 American men and women died in World War II, and nearly 700,000 were injured. The war affected the lives of every individual living in the United States.

Sources for this Page

Allan Kent Powell, “Utah and World War II,” Utah Historical Quarterly 73, no. 2 (2005): 108–131.

Allan Kent Powell, ed., Utah Remembers World War II (Logan, UT: Utah State University Press, 1991).

“Take a Closer Look: America Goes to War,” The National World War II Museum, https://www.nationalww2museum.org/students-teachers/student-resources/research-starters/america-goes-war-take-closer-look.

“The Home Front,” Utah World War II Stories, KUED, https://www.kued.org/whatson/kued-productions/utah-world-war-ii-stories.