Back to Show
The War
When Mobile, Alabama, Turned Into an American War Town
By 1943, six million women had joined the American workforce, nearly half in defense plants. In Mobile, Alabama, thousands worked at the shipyards and Brookley Field, where Emma Belle Petcher, a self-taught fixer from tiny Millry, rose to aircraft inspector. The wartime boom brought jobs, overcrowding and friction between longtime residents and newcomers.
Support Provided By
Unlock with PBS Passport
1:28:19
President Johnson escalates the war while promising the public that victory is in sight.
Unlock with PBS Passport
2:07:27
Germany and the Japanese surrender too and millions try to learn to live without war.
Unlock with PBS Passport
1:59:26
By mid March, 1945, they are across the Rhine, while Russians are 50 miles from Berlin.
Unlock with PBS Passport
2:19:15
On D-Day, 1.5 million Allied troops take part in the greatest invasion in history.