Arizona during World War II

The history of Arizona during World War II begins in 1940, when the United States government began constructing military bases within the state in preparation for war. Arizona's contribution to the Allied war effort was significant both in terms of manpower and facilities supported in the state. Prisoner of war camps were operated at Camp Florence and Papago Park. Also, two incarceration camps – the Gila River War Relocation Center and the Poston War Relocation Center – housed Japanese-American citizens and Japanese immigrants who had been forcibly removed from the West Coast.
The war years provided great economic stimulus, both because of the numbers of troops at camps in the state, and increase in demand, and the expansion of wartime demand for such materials as copper and other metals. Industries expanded, adding to the state's recovery from the Great Depression.

Latinos

During the war, Mexican-American community organizations promoted efforts to support American troops abroad. They worked both to support the war effort materially and to provide moral support for young American men fighting the war, especially their young Mexican-American men from local communities. Some community projects were cooperative between Anglo and Hispanic communities, but most were localized within the Mexican-American community. Mexican-American women also organized to assist their servicemen and the war effort; an underlying goal of Tucson's Spanish-American Mothers and Wives Association was the reinforcement of the woman's role in Spanish-Mexican culture. Members raised thousands of dollars, wrote letters, and joined in numerous celebrations of their culture and their support for Mexican-American servicemen. Membership reached more than 300 during the war. The organization stopped operating in 1976.

Casualties

Type	Total
Killed in Action	27
Killed in Prison Camps	11
Missing in Action	17
Wounded in Action	41
Released from Prison Camps	17
Total	113

Incarceration camps

During World War II, the United States government wrongfully removed and incarcerated approximately 120,000 Japanese Americans and Japanese immigrants, sending them first to temporary assembly centers, and then to inland concentration camps. Arizona was home to an assembly center in Mayer, Arizona and one in Poston, and two incarceration camps – the Gila River War Relocation Center and Poston War Relocation Center, which together held approximately 24,000 men, women, and children. The state was also home to the Leupp Isolation Center, which held “troublemakers” from other incarceration camps, and the Catalina Federal Honor Camp which held draft resisters and conscientious objectors.

Prisoner of war camps

Arizona's Camp Florence, on the Florence Military Reservation, was the first permanent alien enemy camp constructed during World War II. Construction began during 1942 to house 3000 internees, with room to expand to 6000. The initial construction budget was $4.8 million. The United States did not detain numerous enemy aliens here, so the Army used Camp Florence as a POW camp.