World War II had a dramatic impact on Americans, including Mexican Americans in Arizona. It challenged families and communities to make sacrifices during wartime. Mexican Americans served in large numbers and with distinction in the war, and after it ended they sought to defend their rights as Americans, and to eliminate the discriminatory behavior and acts that kept them within ethnic boundaries. The segregation at Tempe Beach, the “brilliant star in Tempe’s crown,” and its “No Mexicans Allowed” policy, initiated in 1923, was one of them. Another ethnic boundary was the segregated housing policy for veterans established by the City of Phoenix in 1946. In Tempe and Phoenix, the League of United Latin American Citizens (LULAC) Council 110, led by Placida Garcia Smith, and the American Legion Thunderbird Post 41, led by Ray Martinez, were at the front lines in the fight against racism and discrimination in the 1940s. Mexican Americans confronted public elected officials over racist practices and policies of exclusion, and utilized the court system to provide them equal justice under the law. They exercised their right to seek equality after years of segregation, and to secure their civil rights as Americans. Their actions are examples of American-style civic activism, a devotion to the United States and the ideals of freedom and democracy. The search for that freedom and holding the government accountable to its laws and ideals are what drove LULAC Council 110 and American Legion Thunderbird Post 41 as they organized and agitated for the civil rights of Mexican Americans in Tempe and Phoenix during the 1940s.

"It was the purpose of this writer to obtain such information in regards to the living costs of the students enrolled at North Texas State College as to suffice in making a comparative study with the living costs of students enrolled at other educational institutions over the nation."-- leaf 1.

Bibliography: leaves 385-417. / x, 417 leaves : ill. (some col.), [1] col. map ; 30 cm. / Title page, contents and abstract only. The complete thesis in print form is available from the University Library. / Documents and evaluates the experiences and life outcomes of a sample of WW2 veterans against a background of ideas about the neuroses of war, thereby examining the history of medical ideas about the psychological casualties of war, and the history of the lives of participants of war. The medical framework and social context that underpin the construction of war experience is critically examined in this thesis. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--University of Adelaide, Dept. of Public Health, 2000

An objective questionnaire was used in making this study. The forms were carefully written and designed to assist the veteran in giving the true picture of his progress in addition to the number of veterans dropping the program. After receiving from the teacher of veterans the number of veterans in his department with at least two years of institutional on-the-farm training in vocational agriculture, enough forms were sent to the teacher in charge of the department to give each of these veterans a copy. These forms were mailed to 165 veterans in the state of Virginia. Returns were received from 108 veterans reporting on their progress, although several others came too late to be included in the study. The results on the drop-out part of the questionnaire went to 139 vocational agriculture departments that reported 675 veterans dropping the training program. The tabulation of the data was made at the home of the author on large master sheets which were prepared for this work. Classifications of the data were made to give the desired results of the progress and the number of veterans dropping the program as well as their reasons for dropping out of training. / M.S.

From the colonial period to the present, Americans have debated the role of the military and its place in American society. One important part of this debate is the issue of compulsory military service and whether it is consistent with the ideals of a democratic state. Although Americans have generally accepted compulsory service in times of national emergency, they have often expressed great reservations to it in times of peace. In their view, compulsory military service raises fundamental questions about the responsibilities of citizens to the state.Following World War II, proponents of compulsory military service campaigned for implementation of Universal Military Training (UMT) as a method of insuring manpower for a potential national emergency. By stressing the universal aspect of the program, supporters hoped to demonstrate the democratic qualities of UMT and its compatibility with traditional American ideals. Ultimately, however, they were unable to convince Congress and the general public of the program's merits. Some opposed the program because of its questionable military value in the atomic age. Many others voiced their disapproval of UMT largely because of a longstanding American sentiment against peacetime compulsory service. As a result, UMT was never implemented.This thesis will explore a neglected aspect of the UMT debate and examine the opposition of veterans to UMT. Veterans generally, and veterans organizations in particular, have traditionally advocated military preparedness. Not surprisingly, the American Legion was the primary nongovernmental organization to spearhead the effort to adopt UMT. Yet significant opposition to UMT existed even within the Legion's ranks. Similarly, the American Veterans Committee (AVC), a newly formed organization comprised of World War II veterans, announced its opposition to military training. With uncertain support from a segment of American society that would normally be expected to back preparedness programs, the government's plan for military training had little chance for adoption. With the resumption of selective service in 1948, the importance of UMT to U.S. military policy greatly diminished, and UMT virtually disappeared from the political forefront.Through the use of archival sources at the American Legion National Headquarters, the records of the American Veterans Committee, congressional testimony by representatives of both organizations, and various secondary sources, this thesis demonstrates that some veterans, like many Americans, viewed peacetime compulsory military service with great ambivalence and not an obligation of citizenship in a democratic state. / Department of History

Very little scholarly work has been written about Cape Town during the Second World War. Indeed, very little has been written about South African society at all during this period. This study is an attempt to contribute towards scholarly discussion of the effects of war on South African society, and to try to understand the largely neglected effects of the War on those who took part in it. Much of this study focuses on the experiences of white Englishspeaking veterans. This is because the majority of soldiers fighting in the Second World War were from this particular population group, and also because it was this group that was about to lose commanding political influence upon its return to South Africa. A central theme of this study is the government's neglect of the returning soldiers, and their failure to live up to their promises. The change of government in 1948 was to ensure that the needs of the ex-volunteers were never fully addressed, and that the veterans would never occupy the central position in society which they thought was their right, having fought in a war which many members of the new government had opposed. The focus on Cape Town also ensures that this study remains separate from the many papers which have been written detailing the rise of Nationalism from the late 1930s until the 1948 election. Looking at the other side of the political spectrum - at the eventual losers - has important and interesting political and historical implications, and adds a new dimension to the political history of the period. The methodology used for this study is mainly oral - interviews were conducted with a small representative sample of veterans and have provided a basis for all secondary research. Using the testimony of veterans has proved a useful and original tool for examining the period in question. One further aim of the thesis is to provide an opportunity for the voices of the veterans to be recognised as an authoritative resource about the history of Cape Town during the War and in the immediate post-War period. The thesis is split into two parts to reflect the different nature of Cape Town society during and after the War. The early part deals with Cape Town during the War and the changes which were taking place there as a result of South African participation in the conflict. This section also examines the wartime experiences of the soldiers and assesses how these experiences helped to forge new identities and behaviour after the War. Part Two looks at the post-War period and the demobilisation process, examining how it treated and prejudiced the soldiers who were involved.