Experience WWII in Stockton, CA: A Trip Through Time
A look back at the massive support effort on the part of our city during the second World War.
This first week of June 2024 will feature the 80th anniversary of D-Day (June 6). The day that the US & Allied Forces stormed the beaches of Normandy, where nearly 5,000 soldiers gave their lives to turn the tide against Nazi Germany. The large scale invasion that was perfectly recreated by Director Steven Spielberg in his 1998 war epic Saving Private Ryan.
In honor of this important moment in history, we're shining a light on the part Stockton played in the Second World War.
During World War II, Stockton had turned into half city, half military base. Over 10,000 workers at 10 shipyards along the Stockton Channel worked around the clock building varieties of smaller vessels. Rough Ready Island Naval Supply played home base for naval warships sailing in and out of the region.
At College of the Pacific, now the University of the Pacific, 337 marines and sailors were trained in the V-12 Program as future medics and officers. At Stockton Field, hundreds of Army airmen learned how to fly medium bombers. Even students at Stockton High were harvesting crops and raising funds to build 275 jeeps for the armed forces.
Stockton played a vital role in winning World War II in the Pacific Theatre. A number of important training programs for officers, radio operators, and pilots were established in this city. Throughout the war, Stocktonians held war bond rallies, including the Filipino men and women in Little Manila, shocked by the atrocities committed in their homeland. The President of the Stockton Filipino Association presented the Treasury Dept. with more than $97,000 in war bonds. That would equal $1.5M today.
While there is much to celebrate about the Stockton war effort, one cannot overlook the harsh treatment toward Japanese American citizens during this time. Click here for our blog on the Asian American experience in Stockton, which includes the Japanese Internment during World War II.
The largest military training center in San Joaquin County was located at the Stockton Municipal Airport. Every two months, 200 pilots would graduate from the training center. This center would go on to be one of the biggest threats to the Japanese Empire. Of the 36 pilots who flew in the famous Jimmy Doolittle Raid on Tokyo in 1942, 11 of them were trained right here in Stockton, CA.
The information featured in this blog was provided by Competing Voices: A Critical History of Stockton, CA, written by Ronald Eugene Isetti. Additional material provided by Stocktonia, Port of Stockton, and the Stockton Record.
For more military history in Stockton, check out our blog on the USS Lucid & the Stockton Historical Maritime Museum.
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