John Delach

America accelerated its pre-war effort once President Roosevelt declared that we would become “The Arsenal for Democracy.” Beginning in 1940, after FDR had won election to his third term and secured his power, he began his so-called “short of war” policies to supply Great Britian with military equipment that included 50 obsolete destroyers in exchange for bases in Bermuda, Canada and the Caribbean.

FDR, took on the powerful Isolationist lobby who opposed our entrance into this new conflict in Europe. He initiated the draft, passed legislation to greatly increase our army, air force and navy, despite this lobby’s opposition.

Lend-lease, our program to supply our allies expanded by leaps and bounds once America entered World War II. The colossal industrial might that was the USA geared up to produce an enormous stockpile of airplanes, ships and land equipment that greatly surpassed what the ten million men we had in uniform needed. Our surplus was so great that we supplied the USSR, Great Britian and its Commonwealth, the Free French, and China. Lend-lease essentially translated into Uncle doing this for free.

When the war ended on August 15, 1945, a rapid demilitarization began that forced this military / industrial colossus to reverse course, de-militarize their plants, factories and organizations. Instead of bombs, cannons and warships, they began to produce commercial ships and civilian airplanes while resuming everything our citizens wanted and needed like jobs, housing, appliances, new cars and varieties of food without ration cards. We also became the supplier to our devastated allies, sending them everything from grain to surplus trolley cars, again for free under the Marshall Plan that saved many European nations from Communism.

Up to the start of the draft in 1940, America had always been a country with a small military presence. We, as a nation, incorporated the same philosophy for returning our citizen army and navy to civilian life. Our immediate goal following the surrender of Japan was to bring home our service men from those numerous locations where they had been deployed. The navy’s first post-war challenge was to bring the boys back home from those far-flung locations across the Pacific.

This feat was accomplished by using soon-to-be laid-up aircraft carriers devoid of airplanes with reduced crews that participated in an incredible operation to bring our boys back home that the navy called: “Operation Magic Carpet.”   

Once that mission was accomplished, the navy took up the task of prserving all of their ships they deemed eligible for future re-activation should the need occur.

The army cut its active divisions as this service discharged about 70% of its manpower. A strong effort in Congress tried to eliminate the marines, but their alumni of significant supporters squashed this effort. Still, the marines remained vigilant.

The air force was the only service to prosper during these stringent times. First off, the Defense Act of 1947 made  this, a separate service, the United States Air Force (USAF.) The need for bigger and faster bombers to deliver the atom bomb, and later the hydrogen bomb plus the development of jet powered airplanes guaranteed that congress would fund the USAF with the money needed to develop these bombers and fighters.

Boeing built these bombers, first the B-47, a medium bomber and later, the B-52, our international heavy bomber that with the advent of air-to-air refueling, could reach any target anywhere in the world. The B-52 defied becoming obsolete and, while  its role has changed several times since it was designed and built, it remains our primary long-range nuclear bomber.

My cousin, Bill, pointed out to me that the USAF is still be operating the B-52 in 2024 and plans to use this “B.U.F.F.*” until 2050. That’s the equivalent of the army or the navy using guns, equipment and ships designed during the Civil War. Do the math: Far out!

The navy mothballed 17 Essex Class Fleet Aircraft Carriers, seven Light Carriers and 70 of 72 Escort Carriers.

 Every battleship was removed from service except the USS Missouri. (Remember, Harry Truman was president and Missouri was his home.) Fifty cruisers, all constructed during the war were also decommissioned.

The navy was a mere shadow of its war-time self, but then, the Soviets dropped their version of the Atomic Bomb and the North Koreans invaded South Korea. We went to the United Nations requesting they declare that the North had created a hostile situation and a UN force led by the United States would lead and command an international force to defeat them. The Russians had the power to veto this mandate, but, strange as it seems, they walked out of the Security Council and the resolution passed unanimously!

Korea was too far from our air bases in Okinawa and Japan to allow fighter-bombers stationed at the bases to support our troops fighting the North Koreans who outnumbered them. The only carrier in the Western Pacific available to support this vanguard of American troops trapped in the shrinking Pusan perimeter was the USS Valley Forge that quickly went into harm’s way.

Demilitarizing stopped on a dime and nine de-commissioned Essex Class aircraft carriers were chosen for re-activation. Six other carriers were transferred from the Atlantic to the Pacific. Like it or not, We had been drawn into a Cold War with the USSR that would last until the fall of the Soviet Union 40-years later. It began with a hot war for all of the marines, soldiers, sailors and airmen who served in that conflict from 1950 to 1953. These men, now senior citizens had the dubious distinction of serving in America’s forgotten war.

But any thought of cutting our armed forces had disappeared and each effort to do so since then has been stopped by events hostile to our well-being.

*BUFF: Big Ugly Fat F**ck.