EXHIBITS

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.

Bushnell_WWII_002.jpg
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.

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.