Lesson by Joe Welch and Rebecca Luebker
Essay by Kara Dixon Vuic, Texas Christian University
Grade Level: 7–12
Number of Class Periods: 5
Primary Era: The Great Depression and World War II, 1929–1945
About This Lesson Plan Unit
The five lessons in this unit explore how Americans who served in segregated and specialized units during World War II described their enlistment. It investigates these stories against the backdrop of their civilian experiences, which included racial or gender discrimination. Students will read and view materials created by or about Veterans and service members who served in 761st Tank Battalion, in the 442nd Regimental Combat Team, as code talkers, and in the Women’s Army Corps. They will investigate newspaper articles, oral histories and interviews, correspondence, and visual materials. You will assess students’ understanding as demonstrated through a poster or creative written project.
Lesson Plan Authors: Joe Welch and Rebecca Luebker
Historical Background Essay by: Kara Dixon Vuic, Texas Christian University
Additional Information About This Unit
Common Core State Standards
Common Core State Standards
CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RH.6-8.2: Determine the central ideas or information of a primary or secondary source; provide an accurate summary of the source distinct from prior knowledge or opinions .
CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RH.6-8.6: Identify aspects of a text that reveal an author’s point of view or purpose (e .g ., loaded language, inclusion or avoidance of particular facts).
CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RH.6-8.8: Distinguish among fact, opinion, and reasoned judgment in a text .
CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RH.9-10.1: Cite specific textual evidence to support analysis of primary and secondary sources, attending to such features as the date and origin of the information .
CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RH.9-10.2: Determine the central ideas or information of a primary or secondary source; provide an accurate summary of how key events or ideas develop over the course of the text .
CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RH.9-10.4: Determine the meaning of words and phrases as they are used in a text, including vocabulary describing political, social, or economic aspects of history/social studies .
CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RH.11-12.1: Cite specific textual evidence to support analysis of primary and secondary sources, connecting insights gained from specific details to an understanding of the text as a whole .
CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RH.11-12.3: Evaluate various explanations for actions or events and determine which explanation best accords with textual evidence, acknowledging where the text leaves matters uncertain
CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RI.9-10.7: Analyze various accounts of a subject told in different mediums (e.g., a person’s life story in both print and multimedia), determining which details are emphasized in each account
Essential Questions
Essential Questions
How did Veterans and service members explain their reasons for enlisting?
What distinguished the enlistment experience of service members who served in segregated and specialized units from the enlistment experience of other Americans?
What distinctive skills from civilian life did service people in specialized roles bring to their positions?
Documents
Documents
Mary McLeod Bethune, “We, Too, Are Americans,” Pittsburgh Courier, January 17, 1942
War Relocation Authority Questionnaire “Statement of United States Citizen of Japanese Ancestry,” Form DSS 304A, 1943
Ted Fujioka, “This Is the Army: Foo Finds Soldiering Fun If One Has a Purpose,” Heart Mountain Sentinel, September 4, 1943
Hiro Higuchi (“Dad”) to his wife, Hisako (Watanabe) Higuchi (“Mom”), April 7, 1944
Susumu "Sus" Ito interviewed by Stephen Fugita on July 3, 1998
Louis Levi Oakes Interview by Joseph R. Messineo, October 9, 2017
Clarence Wolf Guts Interview by KOLC TFVOglala Lakota College Television, October 17, 2011
Chester Nez Interview by Don Chalmers Ford on October 1, 2003
Haddon Codynah Interview by Joe L. Todd for the Oklahoma Historical Society, April 8, 1987
Women’s Army Corps Recruitment Poster, Are You a Girl with a Star-Spangled Heart?, art by Bradshaw Crandell, Recruiting Publicity Bureau, US Army, Washington DC, 1943
Women’s Army Auxiliary Corps Advertisement, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, May 21, 1943
Alice Tetsuko Kono Interview by James Tetsuji Tanabe, March 8, 2004
Millie L. D. Veasey Interview by Hermann Trojanowski, June 25, 2000
Sara Whalen Interview by Joseph Welch (grandson), September 11, 2016
World War II Recruiting Poster, “I Want You for the U.S. Army,” artwork by James Montgomery Flagg, Office of War Information, Washington DC, [1941]
Charles Collins Aldridge, “The Skirted Soldier,” 1943