Were there notable regional differences in where US soldiers fought during WWII (controlling for branch of service)? For example, would a naval officer from Connecticut be more likely to serve in the European theatre than the Pacific? Same with an Oregonian in the Pacific? Were Easterners more likely to fight in Europe, and the same for Westerners in the Pacific?
My understanding is that different parts of the US focused more heavily (i.e. more news stories, more analysis/opinion) on different places during the war. So, the Pacific Northwest and California were more interested in the Pacific theatre relative to the rest of the country. (I acknowledge this may be inaccurate). But, were servicemen from the PNW more likely to actually serve in the Pacific Theatre, i.e. did the regional focus of their home states overlap with the location of their actual wartime experiences? Very longwinded Q, I know. And I know this may vary dramatically by service branch, so again, a bit wordy and confusing, but I hope I'm clear enough.
Returning to my perhaps faulty premise; has anyone done a study of how the war was reported on in different regions of the US? Was a Wisconsin farming family reading news about one area of conflict more or less so than, say, shopkeepers in Savannah, GA? Thanks!
For the U.S. Army, generally no, as I've elaborated on before, although there were a few interesting exceptions.
One circumstance that could have large numbers of men from the same area fighting together in the same unit in the same theater was if they were members of the National Guard. I wrote previously about the origins of the National Guard here;
The Militia Act of 1903 established the National Guard of each State, or the organized militia, and the reserve militia. When the National Guard of each state was formed into units, they would need to be organized along the lines of units of the Regular Army and submit themselves to the federal government if they wanted to receive funding. The Militia Act also set the number of yearly exercises, and codified the circumstances under which the National Guard of each state could be federalized; by the president, and for a maximum period of nine months and not outside the United States. In 1908, the Militia Act was amended to allow the president to set the term limit for federal service as he saw fit, and allow the National Guard to serve outside the United States.
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Exactly how the National Guard fit into the structure of the Army in war was not really considered until the National Defense Act of 1916. The act provided that the Army of the United States would consist of the Regular Army, the Volunteer Army, the Officers' Reserve Corps, the Enlisted Reserve Corps, the National Guard while in the service of the United States, and such other land forces as are now or may hereafter be authorized by law. The act said that members of the National Guard, when called into the service of the United States, would lose their militia status and become members of the Volunteer Army. The organization of the National Guard was also modified; the president had the sole responsibility to delegate the types of units and number of men for each state, rather than the states themselves. The Reserve Officers' Training Corps (ROTC) was also established.
The 1920 amendments to the National Defense Act of 1916 provided that the Army of the United States would consist of the Regular Army, the National Guard while in the service of the United States, and the Organized Reserve Corps, which included the Officers' Reserve Corps and the Enlisted Reserve Corps.
In 1933, another amendment to the Act established the National Guard of the United States as a legal entity, and provided that federally recognized National Guard men and officers of each state take a dual oath, and be considered members of the Army of the United States at all times. Officer commissions into the NGUS were technically considered reserve commissions under the amendment. This established the National Guard as the federal reserve component we know today. You will notice that the 1920 amendments to the National Defense Act got rid of the “Volunteer Army.” Its equivalent, first codified in 1940, was that any enlistments into the Army during a time of national emergency or war as declared by Congress would just be in the “Army of the United States,” and would be for the duration of the emergency or war plus six months. Later, in 1941, the status of personnel who were drafted into the Army under the Selective Training and Service Act of 1940 was clarified.
National Guard units were state-based, with the major units being infantry divisions;
| Division | Allotted states | Campaign participation credit |
|---|---|---|
| 26th | Massachusetts | Northern France, Rhineland, Ardennes-Alsace, Central Europe |
| 27th | New York | Elements participated in various campaigns in the Pacific, but not the entire division |
| 28th | Pennsylvania | Normandy, Northern France, Rhineland, Ardennes-Alsace, Central Europe |
| 29th | Maryland, Pennsylvania, Virginia, Washington, D.C. | Normandy, Northern France, Rhineland, Central Europe |
| 30th | Georgia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee | Normandy, Northern France, Rhineland, Ardennes-Alsace, Central Europe |
| 31st | Alabama, Florida, Louisiana, Mississippi | New Guinea, Southern Philippines |
| 32nd | Michigan, Wisconsin | New Guinea, Southern Philippines, Luzon |
| 33rd | Illinois | New Guinea, Luzon |
| 34th | Iowa, Minnesota, North Dakota, South Dakota | Tunisia, Naples-Foggia, Rome-Arno, North Apennines, Po Valley |
| 35th | Kansas, Missouri, Nebraska | Normandy, Northern France, Rhineland, Ardennes-Alsace, Central Europe |
| 36th | Texas | Naples-Foggia, Rome-Arno, Southern France, Rhineland, Ardennes-Alsace, Central Europe |
| 37th | Ohio | Northern Solomons, Luzon |
| 38th | Indiana, Kentucky. West Virginia | New Guinea, Southern Philippines, Luzon |
| 40th | California, Nevada, Utah | Bismarck Archipelago, Southern Philippines, Luzon |
| 41st | Idaho, Montana, Oregon, Washington, Wyoming | Papua, New Guinea, Southern Philippines |
| 43rd | Connecticut, Maine, Rhode Island, Vermont | New Guinea, Northern Solomons, Luzon |
| 44th | Delaware, New Jersey, New York | Northern France, Rhineland, Central Europe |
| 45th | Arizona, Colorado, New Mexico, Oklahoma | Sicily, Naples-Foggia, Anzio, Rome-Arno, Southern France, Rhineland, Ardennes-Alsace, Central Europe |