Truman and Stalin, in Color Another great color photo of President Truman with someone you might not expect – Joseph Stalin. Truman and Stalin met while attending the Potsdam Conference in Germany in July of 1945, shortly after the end of World War II in Europe. More — from the Truman Library
Pop-upView Separately

Truman and Stalin, in Color

Another great color photo of President Truman with someone you might not expect – Joseph Stalin.

Truman and Stalin met while attending the Potsdam Conference in Germany in July of 1945, shortly after the end of World War II in Europe.

More — from the Truman Library

The Formal End of Japanese American Relocation On February 19, 1976, President Ford signed the proclamation “An American Promise.” It formally announced the termination Executive Order 9066, the measure that had resulted in the uprooting of Japanese Americans and their detainment in camps during World War II.   Although E.O. 9066 had ceased to be effective once hostilities had ended, the Japanese American Citizens League and others petitioned the White House to have the termination officially recognized. -from the Ford Library
Pop-upView Separately

The Formal End of Japanese American Relocation

On February 19, 1976, President Ford signed the proclamation “An American Promise.” It formally announced the termination Executive Order 9066, the measure that had resulted in the uprooting of Japanese Americans and their detainment in camps during World War II.
 
Although E.O. 9066 had ceased to be effective once hostilities had ended, the Japanese American Citizens League and others petitioned the White House to have the termination officially recognized.

-from the Ford Library

Source: facebook.com

congressarchives:

On the morning of December 7, 1941, Japanese bombers staged a surprise attack on U.S. military and naval forces in Hawaii. In a devastating defeat, the United States suffered 3,435 casualties and loss of or severe damage to 188 planes, 8 battleships, 3 light cruisers, and 4 miscellaneous vessels. Japanese losses were less than 100 personnel, 29 planes, and 5 midget submarines.

These photographs were submitted to the Joint Committee on the Investigation of the Pearl Harbor Attack as exhibits for the investigation about four years after they were taken.

Photograph of the wreckage of U.S. destroyers Downes and Cassin in Pearl Harbor, 12/07/1941, Records of Joint Committees of Congress (ARC 306533)

Photograph of the wreckage-strewn Naval Air Station at Pearl Harbor following the Japanese attack, 12/07/1941, Records of Joint Committees of Congress (ARC 306541)

Photograph of a wing from a Japanese bomber shot down on the grounds of the Naval Hospital, Honolulu, Territory of Hawaii, during the attack on Pearl Harbor, 12/07/1941,  Records of Joint Committees of Congress (ARC 306539)

Folsom Prison Pearl Harbor Petition The attack by Japan on Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941 brought an immediate unity of purpose to the nation. Thousands of letters flooded into the White House after the attack, and especially after President Franklin D. Roosevelt delivered his War Message to Congress (the “date which will live in infamy” speech) on December 8th.  Citizens of all political persuasions and from all parts of the country pledged their support, volunteered their service, and offered to enlist in the military.  One of the most interesting examples among the President’s papers is a petition that FDR received signed by prisoners at Folsom State Penitentiary in California. This is the first page of the bound petition that contains 39 pages and 1,746 signatures. -from the FDR Library
Pop-upView Separately

Folsom Prison Pearl Harbor Petition

The attack by Japan on Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941 brought an immediate unity of purpose to the nation. Thousands of letters flooded into the White House after the attack, and especially after President Franklin D. Roosevelt delivered his War Message to Congress (the “date which will live in infamy” speech) on December 8th. 

Citizens of all political persuasions and from all parts of the country pledged their support, volunteered their service, and offered to enlist in the military.  One of the most interesting examples among the President’s papers is a petition that FDR received signed by prisoners at Folsom State Penitentiary in California.

This is the first page of the bound petition that contains 39 pages and 1,746 signatures.

-from the FDR Library

Source: fdrlibrary.wordpress.com

Draft of FDR’s “Day of Infamy” Speech. December 7, 1941. A few hours after learning of the attacks on Pearl Harbor, President Franklin D. Roosevelt dictated a short address to be delivered to a Joint Session of Congress the following day. His handwritten revisions—visible in this December 7 draft of the speech—made the “Day of Infamy” speech one of the most memorable in American history. Read more about the drafting of this significant speech. –from the FDR Library
Pop-upView Separately

Draft of FDR’s “Day of Infamy” Speech. December 7, 1941.

A few hours after learning of the attacks on Pearl Harbor, President Franklin D. Roosevelt dictated a short address to be delivered to a Joint Session of Congress the following day.

His handwritten revisions—visible in this December 7 draft of the speech—made the “Day of Infamy” speech one of the most memorable in American history.

Read more about the drafting of this significant speech.

–from the FDR Library

Source: fdrlibrary.marist.edu

Things to celebrate this weekend: The Liberation of Paris On August 25, 1944, the occupying German garrison in Paris surrendered after a six day battle. The French provisional government headed by Charles De Gaulle was given civil administration of Liberated France. Photo: Soldiers of the 4th U.S. Infantry Division look at the Eiffel Tower in Paris, after the French capital had been liberated on August 25, 1944. More World War II history from the FDR Library: Day by Day Happy Friday!
Pop-upView Separately

Things to celebrate this weekend: The Liberation of Paris

On August 25, 1944, the occupying German garrison in Paris surrendered after a six day battle. The French provisional government headed by Charles De Gaulle was given civil administration of Liberated France.

Photo: Soldiers of the 4th U.S. Infantry Division look at the Eiffel Tower in Paris, after the French capital had been liberated on August 25, 1944.

More World War II history from the FDR Library: Day by Day

Happy Friday!

Source: research.archives.gov

V-J Day New York City celebrating the surrender of Japan. “They threw anything and kissed anybody in Times Square.” 08/14/1945
Pop-upView Separately

V-J Day

New York City celebrating the surrender of Japan. “They threw anything and kissed anybody in Times Square.” 08/14/1945

Source: research.archives.gov

Today in history, The Japanese-American Internment Compensation Bill is Signed by President Ronald Reagan.

In 1942, President Roosevelt signed Executive Order 9066 which was used almost exclusively to intern Americans of Japanese descent.  By 1943, more than 110,000 Japanese Americans had been forced from their homes and moved to camps. 

Forty-six years later, on August 10, 1988, President Reagan signed the Japanese-American Internment Compensation Bill.  The bill acknowledged the injustice of the internment, apologized for it, and provided a $20,000 cash payment to each person who was interned.

Pictured above: First-grade children of Japanese ancestry during flag pledge ceremony at a public school in San Francisco prior to internment. 4/20/42

Below: President Reagan signs the Reparations Bill for Japanese-Americans in the Old Executive Office Building. 8/10/88

Source: archives.gov

Late in the night of August 1, 1943, Lieutenant John F. Kennedy’s Patrol Torpedo boat, the PT-109, was attacked by a Japanese destroyer in the South Pacific.

The destroyer struck PT-109 in the darkness of the moonless night, ripping away the starboard side of the boat. The impact tossed Kennedy around the cockpit. Most of the crew were knocked into the water. The one man below decks, engineer Patrick McMahon, miraculously escaped, although he was badly burned by exploding fuel.

From the wreckage, Kennedy ordered the men with him, to identify the locations of their crewmates in the water.

Kennedy swam out to McMahon and Charles Harris. Kennedy towed the injured McMahon by a life-vest strap, and alternately cajoled and berated the exhausted Harris to get him through the difficult swim. Floating on and around the hulk, the crew took stock.

After a discussion of options, the men abandoned the remains of PT-109 and struck out for an islet three and a half miles away.

Kennedy had been on the swim team at Harvard; even towing McMahon by a belt clamped in his teeth, he was undaunted by the distance. Some of the other men were also good swimmers, but several were not; two, Johnston and Mauer, could not swim at all. These last two were lashed to a plank that the other seven men pulled and pushed as they could. Read more

Source: jfklibrary.org

Stalin, Truman, and Churchill at the Potsdam Opening, 07/17/1945 The Potsdam Conference was a meeting of the victorious leaders of the Allies in Europe.  Held over two weeks in an unbombed suburb of Berlin, convened from July 17-August 2, 1945. Soviet Premier Joseph Stalin, British Prime Minister Winston Churchill, and President Truman began the conference for their respective countries. On the agenda was the partitioning of the postwar world and resolving the problems of the war in the Far East. This included the division of Germany; the movement of populations from Czechoslovakia, Austria, and Italy; the creation of a Council of Foreign Ministers to administer the agreed upon zones of occupation; and issuing a proclamation demanding unconditional surrender from the Japanese government. More on the Big Three - from the Truman Library
View Separately

Stalin, Truman, and Churchill at the Potsdam Opening, 07/17/1945

The Potsdam Conference was a meeting of the victorious leaders of the Allies in Europe.  Held over two weeks in an unbombed suburb of Berlin, convened from July 17-August 2, 1945.

Soviet Premier Joseph Stalin, British Prime Minister Winston Churchill, and President Truman began the conference for their respective countries. On the agenda was the partitioning of the postwar world and resolving the problems of the war in the Far East. This included the division of Germany; the movement of populations from Czechoslovakia, Austria, and Italy; the creation of a Council of Foreign Ministers to administer the agreed upon zones of occupation; and issuing a proclamation demanding unconditional surrender from the Japanese government.

More on the Big Three - from the Truman Library

Source: trumanlibrary.org