Begay, Keats and Broderick H. Johnson eds. Navajos and World War II. Tsaile, AZ: Navajo Community College Press, 1977.
This book is a collection of interviews with Navajo people involved in World War II. Their experiences range from Bataan and Corregidor POW survivors to those who worked on the home front.
Bernstein, Alison R. American Indians and World War II: Toward a New Era in Indian Affairs. Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, 1991.
Bernstein begins this book with a discussion of the New Deal. She moves through enlistment and the draft and into wartime experiences. The book ends with a discussion of the effects war experiences had on Indian communities.
Bixler, Margaret T. Winds of Freedom: the Story of the Navajo Code Talkers of World War II. Darien, CT: Two Bytes Pub. Co., 1992.
This book is a look at the use of Navajo language as code, particularly in the Pacific Theater of operations. Bixler includes a discussion of the language, the military training experience, wartime use of the language as code and the experiences of the Navajo code talkers after the war.
Boyden, Joseph. Three Day Road. London: Weidenfeld & Nicolson, 2005.
Cave, Dorothy. Four Trails to Valor. Las Cruces, NM: Yucca Tree Press, 1997.
With this book, Dorothy Cave provides a lens through which to view the World War II experiences of four groups from the Southwest. She presents experiences of Navajo, Pueblo, Hispanic and Anglo soldiers.
Felix, Antonia and John Woo. Windtalkers. New York: Newmarket Press, 2002.
This book was designed to provide historical background to accompany the major motion picture, Windtalkers.
Franco, Jere Bishop. Crossing the Pond: the Native American Effort in World War II. Denton: University of North Texas Press, 1999.
Franco discusses, generally, American Indian participation in World War II at home and abroad. She focuses largely on issues of politics and activities on the home front, such as participation in the red cross or Nazi propaganda on the reservations
McClain, S. Navajo Weapon: the Navajo Code Talkers. Tucson, AZ: Rio Nuevo Publishers, 2001.
McClain examines the recruitment of Navajos and the military development of a code using their native language. It follows the code talkers through various stages of the war in the Pacific, including Iwo Jima and Okinawa, and concludes with the War's end. The author used first-person accounts as well as military records in her research.
Meadows, William C. The Comanche Code Talkers of World War II. Austin: University of Texas Press, 2002.
Meadows explores the history of the Comanche men who used their language for military communications in Europe during World War II. This book outlines their often overlooked contribution to the war effort in Europe, and through quotes directly incorporates some of their perspectives.
Rogers, Everett M. and Nancy R. Bartlit. Silent Voices of World War II: When Sons of the Land of Enchantment Met Sons of the Land of the Rising Sun. Santa Fe: Sunstone Press, 2005.
With this book, Rogers and Bartlit examine the experiences and trace the history of New Mexicans in World War II. Through interviews and other research, the authors have attempted to bring to light the stories of New Mexicans who participated in various ways, including Japanese American internees, the Special Engineer Detachment at Los Alamos, men of the New Mexico National Guard, and Navajo Marines.
Root, Eldon. A Star for Benny Peeples. Paso Robles, CA: BlueOak Pub., 1999.
This is the story of a Crow man's experience in the Pacific theater of World War II as a soldier and POW.
Sheffield, R. Scott. The Red Man's on the Warpath: the Image of the "Indian" and the Second World War. Vancouver: University of British Columbia Press, 2004.
Sheffield examines First Nations' participation in World War II and the ways in which that experience altered or reinforced public perceptions and images of Indians in Canada.
Singleton, Hubert Daniel. Atakapas-Ishak Airman: the Life of Alex A. Boudreaux, Southwest Louisiana Indian Flyer. Hammond, LA: Hubert Daniel Singleton, 2003.
This is the story of Alex A. Bourdreax, an Atakapas-Ishak man who served with the Tuskegee airmen.
Stabler, Hollis Dorion. No One Ever Asked Me: the World War II Memoirs of an Omaha Indian Soldier. Edited by Victoria Smith. Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press, 2005.
This book is the biography of Hollis D. Stabler who grew up in the Midwest and joined the military during World War II. He served in North Africa, Italy and France.
Theses, Dissertations, and Articles:
Adams, Kristin M. American Indian defenders of Bataan and Corregidor. M. A. thesis, University of Oklahoma, 2005. Aleiss, Angela.
This article considers the changes seen in Hollywood portrayals of American Indians over the course of the Second World War. The author emphasizes the American emphasis on national unity as a means of defeating fascism, and argues that the film industry's treatment of Native Americans reflected this.
"Prelude to World War II: Racial Unity and the Hollywood Indian." Journal of American Culture 18: 2 (Summer, 1995): 25-34.
Carroll, Alton. Medicine Bags and Dog Tags: How the Military Influenced American Indian Traditions and How the Image of Indians Influenced the Military. Ph. D. diss., Arizona State University, 2004.
This dissertation is a cultural or social history approach to the ways in which American Indians adapted traditions to suit new circumstances. Carroll also considers the ways in which the military was influenced by Native participation, as seen in imagery as well as through practice.
Jett, Cheryl Eichar. Southwestern Indian Women in World War II. M. A. thesis, Southern Illinois University, 2001.
Townsend, Kenneth William. At the Crossroads: Native Americans and World War II . Ph. D. diss., University of North Carolina, 1991.
This dissertation was the basis for Townsend's World War II and the American Indian published in 2000. It examines the Collier Administration's influence in Indian Country and the later enlistment (and draft) of American Indian soldiers, as well as their responses to war experiences in terms of assimilation or retrenchment.
