The military’s presence in Texas grew exponentially during World War II. Texas quickly became more urban than rural, with a net population growth of 33 percent, and the Great Depression faded into memory. Many workers were women, and many were other than Caucasian. War-related industry lured farmers, small-town residents and others into developing urban centers. Impacts of the Military Presence in Texasĭuring the war, more than 1,500,000 military personnel came to Texas for training. All that began to change on December 7, 1941. In short, Texas on the brink of war was mainly agrarian in both employment and attitude, largely insulated from world events and still languishing in 19th-century traditions in such important matters as gender and ethnicity. The Great Depression affected the entire population, but particularly the agricultural and petroleum industries that dominated the state’s economy. Only one in five owned an automobile, one in ten had access to a telephone and one in six owned a radio. Most Texans lived on farms or ranches or in small towns, and only about 40 percent had a high school education. A Portrait of Texas in 1940īefore the war, Texas was sparsely populated there were more people living in New York City at the time than in the entire state of Texas. As a result, Texas beef, petroleum products, medical supplies, weapons and equipment were used by troops overseas. Military posts sprang up statewide to accommodate the constant stream of new recruits, and industrial plants developed rapidly in support of the war effort. Fair climate, frequent clear skies, bountiful resources and a central location made Texas an ideal setting for wartime facilities. While thousands fought on foreign battlefields, others played vital roles within Texas' borders. After four long years of war, Texas had supplied a greater percentage of men and women to the armed forces than any other state with more than 750,000 in uniform. Texans responded to the call for troops in great numbers. forces at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, December 7, 1941, motivated the United States to join the Allies' struggle against Japan, Germany and Italy during World War II.
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