Digital Commons Network^™

The Philippine Economy During The Japanese Occupation, Jasper Lem

Asian Studies: Student Scholarship & Creative Works

The economy of the Philippines was derailed by the Japanese occupation during World War II. As an American colony before World War II, the Philippines had close amicable ties with the United States highlighted by promises of independence on July 4th, 1946. The Philippines also maintained a beneficial economic relationship with the States at this time through extensive foreign trade. However, because of the Japanese invasion, the Philippine economy was robbed of this profitable foreign trade and the promise of independence, severely crippling the island nation and her morale. The first policies implemented by Japan were designed to control the …

Uniquely Okinawan: Determining Identity During The U.S. Wartime Occupation, Courtney A. Short

History

When the U.S. military landed on the shores of Okinawa in 1945, they faced not only a fierce and battle-tested Japanese force, but also 463,000 Okinawan inhabitants. Larger than any other civilian population encountered by the Americans during previous campaigns throughout the Pacific islands, the people of Okinawa also had a unique and complex historical and political relationship with Japan. Okinawa never experienced subjugation as a colony, yet its acceptance as a prefecture did not yield equal treatment for the people because of their Ryukyuan heritage. As the U.S. military prepared for the Battle of Okinawa, they faced dangerous uncertainty …

Carroll, Hillary Bellerby, 1908-1999 (Mss 615), Manuscripts & Folklife Archives

MSS Finding Aids

Finding aid only for Manuscripts Collection 615. World War II letters written by Hillary B. Carroll, while serving in the U.S. Army in The Philippines and Japan, to his wife Katherine “Kate” (Whallen) Carroll, in Bowling Green, Kentucky. Also includes some information and photos related to Carroll’s family.

Anime And War, Carol Sun

Honors Papers and Posters

This poster examines the growth and development of anime in Japan in post-World War II Japan, particularly its ability to make audiences question the trajectory of humanity and society and to "critique the society that relies on technology...as a means to prevent or discourage war and conflict".

The East China Sea In Dod China Military Power Reports, Bert Chapman

Libraries Faculty and Staff Scholarship and Research

The National Defense Authorization Act of 2000 saw Congress require the Department of Defense (DOD) to prepare an annual report on Chinese military power. This report contains classified and unclassified editions. Documenting Chinese military developments, strategy, and trends are critical parts of these reports. Beijing’s military activities in the East China Sea (ECS) are important report components. This work explains the importance of these and other DOD reports for those studying ECS developments, examines how DOD has documented Beijing’s military activities within these publicly accessible reports, and describes how members of Congress have reacted to ECS developments during the Obama …

Geopolitical Implications Of The Sino-Japanese East China Sea Dispute For The U.S., Bert Chapman

Libraries Faculty and Staff Scholarship and Research

This presentation updates the article "Geopolitical Implications of the Sino-East China Sea Dispute for the U.S." published in Geopolitics, History, and International Relations which is already available in epubs.

Geopolitical Implications Of The Sino-Japanese East China Sea Dispute For The U.S., Bert Chapman

Libraries Faculty and Staff Scholarship and Research

Much analysis on Asian strategic challenges facing the U.S. has justifiably emphasized the South China Sea (SCS). This has also been reflected in 2016 presidential campaign debate on the SCS as an emerging area of U.S. foreign and national security policy concern. The East China Sea (ECS) is at least as important for the strategic interests of the U.S. and its allies given the tension between China and Japan over the Senkaku/Diaoyu islands, potential energy resources in this body of water, increasing defense spending by adjacent geographic powers, the area’s importance as a maritime international trade route, and the possibility …

Carpenter, Sidney Crider, 1914-2014 (Sc 2884), Manuscripts & Folklife Archives

MSS Finding Aids

Finding aid only for Manuscripts Small Collection 2884. Digital images of photographs, passports, Kentucky Senate resolution related to 100th birthday, certificate from the Cumberland Trace Chapter of the Military Officers Association, four pieces of currency—Japanese (3) and Russian (1); military identification, from Sidney Crider Carpenter of Bowling Green, Kentucky. Most of the material relates to Carpenter's military career and his role as a coach for several national and international marksmanship teams. Also digital copies of a Korean War photograph album and a 1929 Boy Scout diary kept by Carpenter.

The Atomic Bombings Of Japan - Right Or Wrong?, William Weiss

ERAU Prescott Aviation History Program

Few Presidential actions have generated more controversy than Truman’s decision to use atomic bombs against Japan to end WW II. Local historian Bill Weiss examines the issues based on recently released information from formerly secret American and Russian archives. Learn what the last months were like in the Pacific; American preparations for a possible invasion and Japan’s mindset at this crucial time that lead to the life-saving decision.

Jackson Family Letters (Sc 2883), Manuscripts & Folklife Archives

MSS Finding Aids

Finding aid and scans (Click on "Additional Files" below) for Manuscripts Small Collection 2883. V-mails to Aph P. Jackson, Eminence, Kentucky from her sons, Eli O. Jackson and Laban P. Jackson, written during their military service in World War II. Laban comments on a new birth in the family, on news of German and Japanese atrocities, and on the domestic peace movement; Eli asks about their farm and requests some twists of chewing tobacco.

The Tokugawa Samurai: Values & Lifestyle Transition, Kathleen A. Mcgurty

Student Publications

The Tokugawa period of Japan was a time of great prosperity but also great strife among the social classes. Of the most affected peoples of the Japanese feudal system was the samurai, who had so long been at the center of military and even political power. For hundreds of years, these highly revered peoples had lived a consistent life based off of virtues passed on through a code, and have also lived comfortable lives due to special powers that were reserved for them.

However, with a lack of warfare and increasing Western influence on the political, social, and military system …

Forsythe, Belmont, 1920-2005 (Mss 486), Manuscripts & Folklife Archives

MSS Finding Aids

Finding aid only for Manuscripts Collection 486. Biographical data, military, health and travel records, photographs and papers relating to the life, military service and hobbies of Belmont Forsythe, a native of Muhlenberg County, Kentucky. Military material documents his service in the U.S. Marine Corps and U. S. Army Signal Corps from 1941-1966. Includes audio recordings by Forsythe recounting his life and career.

Porter, Jack C. (Sc 862), Manuscripts & Folklife Archives

MSS Finding Aids

Finding aid only for Manuscripts Small Collection 862. Paper titled “Malcolm Wolford World War II Veteran,” written by Jack C. Porter for a Western Kentucky University United States history class in November 1990. Personal narrative based on Porter’s interview with his grandfather Malcolm Wolford, who served in the Army Air Corps as a radar man from 1942-1945.

Perguson, Dee Carl, Jr., 1921-2010 (Mss 8), Manuscripts & Folklife Archives

MSS Finding Aids

Finding aid only for Manuscripts Collection 8. Correspondence and diaries of Deel Carl Perguson, Jr., Horse Branch (Ohio County), Kentucky, and Seattle, Washington. Of interest are his letters written while serving in World War II in the United States, North Africa, and Italy, and his later memoirs of this period. Also of interest are diaries of his years as a student at Western Kentucky State Teachers College, 1939-1943. The collection also includes his recollections of growing up in Horse Branch in the 1920s and 1930s.

A War Within World War Ii: Racialized Masculinity And Citizenship Of Japanese Americans And Korean Colonial Subjects, Jeffrey Yamashita

History Honors Projects

Even though the Pacific Ocean stands as an aqueous wall between Japan and the United States, World War II exposed the shared relationship between these two nations in their utilization of racial minority populations for the war effort. I interrogate the intersections of gender identity, race, and citizenship of Japanese Americans and Korean colonial subjects in the Japanese Empire during World War II. Specifically, I compare Japanese Americans—soldiers of the segregated Japanese American100^th/442^nd Regimental Combat Team, draft resisters from Heart Mountain, and prisoners of war—with Korean colonial subjects—soldiers who fought for the Imperial Japanese Army— and hope …

The Economics Of The Atomic Bomb: Cost And Utilization, Jonathan M. Davis Mr.

Senior Honors Theses

Few moments in human history can be compared to the culmination of events that brought the atomic bomb into creation. It is incredible to contemplate that while a nation was fighting a two front war that spanned from Europe into the Pacific, that the United States was able to utilize the time, energy, brains, materials, manpower, and capital to complete a project in four years. That under any other circumstances would have taken greater than half a century to complete.

First, this thesis will discuss breakthroughs in research that led scientists to believe that the atomic weapons could be built, …

World War Ii, 1939-1945 - Letters (Mss 330), Manuscripts & Folklife Archives

MSS Finding Aids

Finding aid only for Manuscripts Collection 330. Letters written to parents, friends, faculty and staff of Western Kentucky University by students during their service in Word War II. Includes some press releases, newspaper articles and photos. Also includes a history and travel log of the USS Stevens.

Robertson, Gabrielle, 1889-1970 (Mss 323), Manuscripts & Folklife Archives

MSS Finding Aids

Finding aid only for Manuscripts Collection 323. Chiefly letters to Gabrielle Robertson, History Department faculty member, Western Kentucky University, 1916 to 1960. Of particular interest are those letters from former students serving in the military during World War II. Also includes genealogical materials and family photographs.

Hamlett, Barksdale, 1908-1979 (Mss 292), Manuscripts & Folklife Archives

MSS Finding Aids

Finding aid only for Manuscripts Collection 292. Transcriptions of five interviews conducted with retired four-star general Barksdale Hamlett in which he reflects on his 34-year military career, including service in World War II, the Korean War, and on the Army's General Staff in Washington, D.C.

Frashure, Sherri (Troutman) (Mss 172), Manuscripts & Folklife Archives

MSS Finding Aids

Finding aid only for Manuscripts Collection 172. Oral interviews, including cassette tapes and transcripts, with sixteen World War II veterans conducted by Frashure for her Honors thesis at Western Kentucky University. Also includes her completed paper titled: "Kentuckians at War: A Soldier's Perspective of World War II."

Stone, Dan Ray, 1921-2007 (Mss 196), Manuscripts & Folklife Archives

MSS Finding Aids

Finding aid only for Manuscripts Collection 196. Letters sent to Stone and his mother, Nelle Stone, Bowling Green, Kentucky, during World War II from friends in armed service around the world. Includes letters, holiday greeting cards, telegrams, V-mail and postcards. Almost all correspondents were members of a local fraternal club known as the Senators which was composed of graduates of Bowling Green High School.

Kimbrough, William Joseph, Jr., 1930-2007 (Sc 1346), Manuscripts & Folklife Archives

MSS Finding Aids

Finding aid only for Manuscripts Small Collection 1346. Chiefly letters written by William Joseph Kimbrough, Jr., to his Bowling Green, Kentucky parents, while serving in the 7th Cavalry Regiment of the U.S. Army in California and Japan. Also associated family data.

Smithey, Talmadge A. (Sc 1410), Manuscripts & Folklife Archives

MSS Finding Aids

Finding aid only and scan (Click on "additional files" below) Manuscripts Small Collection 1410. Paper entitled "Experiences of a Prisoner of War in Japan and the Philippines" written by Talmadge A. Smithey for a class at the University of South Carolina. Smithey was a prisoner of war from April 18, 1941 until August 15, 1945.

Brizendine, Thomas Swearer, 1919-2016 (Sc 1397), Manuscripts & Folklife Archives

MSS Finding Aids

Finding aid only for Manuscripts Small Collection 1397. World War II letters, 1941-1945, of Brizendine to his family in Greenville, Kentucky, concerning his military service with the United States Marine Corps in the South Pacific area. Includes associated items.