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WW2 effects: Indiana

Discussion in 'WWII Today' started by JJWilson, Mar 28, 2018.

  1. JJWilson

    JJWilson Well-Known Member

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    Hello everybody, today I bring you the story of Indiana, the land of the hoosiers, experience before, during, and after WW2. I've never been to Indiana, but my dad has been there, and says I'm not missing out on all that much, he said Indianapolis is as cool as it gets, can someone confirm this for me? Anyways, enjoy! Previous WW2 effects: Mississippi WW2 effects: Mississippi

    Indiana Pre-WW2
    In the heart of the American Midwest, Indiana was chugging along in the ongoing Depression that had been dragging the nation down literally and figuratively since 1929. With a population of about 3.4 million people, Indiana was a mostly agricultural and rural state, with it's economy relying heavily on farming and a small industrial base. With part of the state in the "Corn and Grain" belt, Indiana was a top-10 producer of both products, and during the depression, relied on these products to bring money into the impoverished state. Indiana was suffering with a 13.4% unemployment rate in 1940, which actually was one of the better rates in the nation, and the ever growing industrial sector is partly responsible for this. Before WW2, Indiana's factories made everything from light bulbs, to car tires, and brought some, but not a lot of jobs to Hoosiers. Most factories were in Indianapolis, Fort Wayne, and Evansville, the states biggest cities. In 1940, about 10 military facilities were constructed throughout the state, preparing the state for the storm that was traveling across both the Atlantic, and the Pacific.....

    Indiana WW2
    After the attack on Pearl Harbor, Indiana immediately jumped to action. Hundreds of Thousands enlisted, and many thousands more found work in farms and factories across the state. Many soldiers of almost all of the branches of the armed forces, trained in Indiana. The agricultural sector provided the food for the armed forces to march across the world on, while the factories provided the weaponry with which to fight the Axis opponents. Indiana's once simple and young Industrial base, took a massive leap within the first year of the conflict, and dozens of factories popped up across the towns and countrysides of the state. The full extent of Indiana's contribution can't be fully explained, but this excerpt from the Indiana Historical Bureau's: Hoosier's at War, gives some idea of what Indiana did to help win the war. "The list of Hoosier contributions was nearly endless: Allison's airplane engines, Studebaker's trucks, Lilly's blood plasma, the Calumet Region's steel, RCA's proximity fuses, Guide Lamp's cartridge cases, South Bend Toy's tent poles, Republic Aviation's P-47 Thunderbolts. From the shipyards on the Ohio River to the steel mills on Lake Michigan the Indiana economy bent and turned to the miracle of war production." Indeed, like many other states, Indiana made, built, and mass produced everything the military needed to wage and win the war across multiple fronts, along with providing hundreds of thousands of young men to help physically fight the war, and thousands more to work in the factories back home.

    Indiana Post WW2
    When the dust settled across the world, 8,131 of Indiana's finest were killed in the conflict. The state and it's people would never be the same again. Indiana saw firsthand the power and effectiveness that a modern Industry has on a struggling economy. Many of the factories used to make tanks and planes, were converted to make Chevy's and Ford's, many that had been used to make searchlights and ammunition, made flashlights and pens after the war. Indiana had accidentally set itself up for economic success in a modern world, and economy. From 13.4% unemployment in 1940, Indiana lowered it to about 6% by 1950, and it now hovers at about 3% today, one of the best in the U.S. Indiana is home to 7 fortune 500 companies, and is increasingly becoming a state of opportunity and new technology. From the dark days of the Great Depression and WW2, Indiana reemerged a better, and stronger state.

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    Downtown Indianapolis 1941
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    A Farmer tilling his field in 1940
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    M3 Lee's being made in Fort Wayne
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    Car factory in Indianapolis
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    Indianapolis Present Day
     
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  2. OpanaPointer

    OpanaPointer I Point at Opana Staff Member WW2|ORG Editor

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    James Eades, the man who designed the first iron bridge across the Mississippi, worked in Union shipyards on the Ohio River during the ACW. He designed the "disappearing" gun mount that allowed ironclad crews to reload cannons below decks and use the stored energy of the recoil to raise the cannon back into battery. Later the basic design was used for coastal defense guns from Corregidor to the US Atlantic coast, some guns seeing service in WWII.
     
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