Graham Mahan was raised in Los Angeles California, which had undergone a large period of growth. By 1943, the Greater LA area had a larger population than 37 states, and 1 in every 40 Americans lived there. It was also responsible for 17% of America's total war production. It's a coastal city, which meant that it produced ships, and was equipped with ports and naval bases.It's close proximity to the desert meant that it also had air force bases. Of the 120k Japanese Americans who were interned during the war, three quarters of them came from Los Angeles. Many were first relocated to the Santa Anita Racetracks, and later to other Internment Camps farther east. In short, Los Angeles, like other large cities, was very significant in the 1940s.
Los Angeles was the site of the "Battle of Los Angeles" in 1942. This was not a real battle, but rather a collection of anti-aircraft guns in the Los Angeles area firing at imaginary Japanese bombers. This was a reaction towards the general feeling of hysteria that was produced in the wake of Japanese submarines shelling a Santa Barbara oil facility. It lasted for about two hours, with no fatalities.
Los Angeles was also a hotbed of racial tension. There was, of course, the Japanese Internment, which was concentrated on the West Coast, but there were also the Zoot Suit Riots, which occurred in June of 1943. The Riots resulted when a group of white sailors stationed in Southern California went into the Mexican American communities of Los Angeles, hunted down the "zoot suiters"(rebellious Mexican American youths wearing a very distinctive style of clothing), and horribly assaulted them. This was a response to another group of white sailors who stated that they had been attacked by the zoot suiters. The resulting chaos lasted a few days, during which there were no deaths, but about 600 Mexican Americans arrested by LAPD(in contrast, very few sailors were taken into custody) . The sailors were regarded by the newspapers as heroes; the zoot suiters as criminals. While this conflict was primarily between servicemen and Mexican Americans, other minority groups were affected and targeted. On June 8th, Los Angeles was declared off-limits to military personal. The wearing of zoot suits was also declared illegal. Since the LAPD had demonstrated supreme failure in response to racially charged situations, the military police had to step in and arrest all the servicemen inciting riot. The Zoot Suit Riots ended on June 10th. After the event, the California government concluded that the cause of the riots was racism. The LA Mayor thought that this would make the city look bad, so he claimed that the riots were caused by juvenile delinquency instead.
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By 1944, Graham and Virginia Mahan had an address in Van Nuys. Van Nuys is located in the San Fernando valley, and contained the Birmingham General Hospital and the Van Nuys Army Airfield, the latter of which was home to the 28th Fighter Squadron. It also served as a base to train pilots in night flying.
Los Angeles was the site of the "Battle of Los Angeles" in 1942. This was not a real battle, but rather a collection of anti-aircraft guns in the Los Angeles area firing at imaginary Japanese bombers. This was a reaction towards the general feeling of hysteria that was produced in the wake of Japanese submarines shelling a Santa Barbara oil facility. It lasted for about two hours, with no fatalities.
Los Angeles was also a hotbed of racial tension. There was, of course, the Japanese Internment, which was concentrated on the West Coast, but there were also the Zoot Suit Riots, which occurred in June of 1943. The Riots resulted when a group of white sailors stationed in Southern California went into the Mexican American communities of Los Angeles, hunted down the "zoot suiters"(rebellious Mexican American youths wearing a very distinctive style of clothing), and horribly assaulted them. This was a response to another group of white sailors who stated that they had been attacked by the zoot suiters. The resulting chaos lasted a few days, during which there were no deaths, but about 600 Mexican Americans arrested by LAPD(in contrast, very few sailors were taken into custody) . The sailors were regarded by the newspapers as heroes; the zoot suiters as criminals. While this conflict was primarily between servicemen and Mexican Americans, other minority groups were affected and targeted. On June 8th, Los Angeles was declared off-limits to military personal. The wearing of zoot suits was also declared illegal. Since the LAPD had demonstrated supreme failure in response to racially charged situations, the military police had to step in and arrest all the servicemen inciting riot. The Zoot Suit Riots ended on June 10th. After the event, the California government concluded that the cause of the riots was racism. The LA Mayor thought that this would make the city look bad, so he claimed that the riots were caused by juvenile delinquency instead.
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By 1944, Graham and Virginia Mahan had an address in Van Nuys. Van Nuys is located in the San Fernando valley, and contained the Birmingham General Hospital and the Van Nuys Army Airfield, the latter of which was home to the 28th Fighter Squadron. It also served as a base to train pilots in night flying.