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The U.S. War Department described this film in the following words: "
An American soldier, during his combat career, realizes the greatness of his country and determines to assume his share of the responsibilities of good citizenship upon his return to civilian life." Contains "seized enemy material."'
Starring Arthur Kennedy.
Public domain film from the the
Prelinger Archives, slightly cropped to remove uneven edges, with the aspect ratio corrected, and mild video noise reduction applied.
The soundtrack was also processed with volume normalization, noise reduction, clipping reduction, and/or equalization (the resulting sound, though not perfect, is far less noisy than the original).
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/
3.0/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Demobilization_of_United_States_armed_forces_after_World_War_II
The Demobilization of
United States armed forces after the
Second World War began with the defeat of
Germany in May
1945 and continued through 1946.
The United States had more than 12 million men and women in the armed forces at the end of
World War II of whom 7.6 million were stationed abroad.
The American public demanded a rapid demobilization and soldiers protested the slowness of the process.
Military personnel were returned to the
United States in
Operation Magic Carpet. By June 30,
1947, the number of active duty soldiers, sailors,
Marines, and airmen in the armed forces had been reduced to 1,566,
000...
Planning
As early as mid-1943, the
United States Army had recognized that, once victory was won, bringing the troops home would be a priority. More than 16 million
Americans were in uniform; and more than eight million of them were scattered across 55 theaters of war worldwide.
Army Chief of Staff General George Marshall established committees to address
the logistical problem.
Eventually organization of the operation was given to the
War Shipping Administration (
WSA). It established and coordinated Operation Magic Carpet.
Germany surrenders
On May 10, 1945, two days after the unconditional surrender of Germany to the allies on
V-E Day, the War Department announced a
point system for the demobilization and discharge of
Army and
Army Air Force enlisted personnel. The point system, called the
Advanced Service Rating Score, had the objective of achieving equity in the demobilization.
Soldiers were given one point for each month of military service and one additional point was given for each month of overseas service. Each battle star or decoration earned a soldier 5 points. Soldiers were awarded 12 points per dependent child up to a maximum of three children. A total of 85 points was needed for eligibility...
Women in the
Women's Army Corps (WACs) were eligible for demobilization with 44 points.
The War Department initially projected demobilizing 2 million soldiers in the 12 months following the victory in
Europe: 50 percent of this total were in Europe, 33 percent in the
Pacific, and 17 percent had already returned to the
U.S. after an overseas assignment. The U.S.
Navy, including the
Marine Corps, postponed demobilization until the defeat of
Japan...
Initial demobilization in Europe
On
V-E day, 3,077,000
American soldiers were in Europe. Additional replacement soldiers were in the pipeline to be assigned to Europe although overall force levels had been declining for several months as the war wound down. Army and Army Air Force units in Europe were classified into four categories for the purpose of occupation, redeployment, or demobilization.
Category I consisted of units to remain in Europe. The occupying force for Germany would consist of eight divisions and a total occupying force of 337,000 personnel to be reduced further in June 1946.
Category II consisted of units to be re-deployed to the Pacific. About one million soldiers were slated to be sent to the Pacific, including 13 infantry and 2 armored divisions. 400,000 soldiers were to go directly from Europe to the Pacific to arrive between
September 1945 and
January 1946; another 400,000 were to be undergo eight weeks of retraining in the United States and continue to the Pacific to arrive by
April 1946. About
200,000 air force personnel were to go to the Pacific, either from Europe or the United States...
Defeat of Japan
With Japan signing the instrument of surrender on
September 2, 1945, the demand for rapid demobilization from soldiers, their families, and
Congress became unstoppable and all previous plans became moot. Conscription was reduced to 50,000 men per month, less than the military's requirements for replacements. Soldiers, sailors, and marines in the Pacific became eligible for demobilization. The points required for demobilization were reduced several times, reaching 50 points on
December 19, 1945. Ten aircraft carriers, 26 cruisers, and six battleships were converted into troopships to bring soldiers home from Europe and the Pacific...
- published: 24 May 2015
- views: 1855