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US War Department's Research on Biological Warfare in WW2

9/24/2020

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by ​Merja Pyykkönen
A short time after the outbreak of World War II, the United States started to reconsider the usage of biological warfare as somewhat of a threat. Before Camp Detrick (later Fort Detrick) was established in the early months of 1943, an increasing amount of attention was remarked towards it. Previous perceptions of the ‘poor effects’ that BW weapons would cause begin to shift quite soon once the war started. At least, the focus turned a bit more into trying to re-evaluate any possible future threats of BW. 
The Fox Doctrine of 1933 maintained its strong position in the idea of BW’s lack of ability to reach devastation in the U.S. civilians and military troops almost for ten years since its making. Similar to Major Fox, director of the Medical Corps, G.C. Dunham reported in his September 1939 memorandum about the unsatisfactory, possible enemy use of BW. Despite acknowledging that an enemy could harm the food production animals and a few civilians, he applied that such measures would have to be intensively tied to environmental factors. If such “perfect” conditions were found, the diseases would take a long time to start to prosper. Unlike most of the previous judgments of the use of BW, Dunham nonetheless suggested that preparation against offensive use of biological warfare should be established — and such methodology could be expected from enemies during the war that had just started.
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A while after Dunham’s letter, measures of BW studies were starting to slowly take place. The topic of biological warfare was brought up on several reports, and in the fall of 1940, discussions about establishing studies on the preventative side of BW were made. It was presumed, nevertheless, that any attempts towards the US would yet be failed ones due to its technical preparedness. Declaring the possible hazards biological warfare could present on the US population, it was decided to better start of its own study so that the US would be able to handle both offensive and defensive side BW.
During the years of 1941-45, the US was frequently reported about Japan’s BW activity — some of the news was provided by United States’ military departments, and some, as the US often described, “unreliable sources” such as the Chinese. During that time, as later observed, the Japanese were conducting various field tests upon Chinese and Soviet military troops and in countryside villages. In regards to base a level of trust into the sources, the US did not handle well the reports that were witnessed by the Chinese. Throughout the war and what was about take place after Japan surrendered, visual witnessing was deemed as “hear-say” and “not-proven” when it came from the Chinese: No proof was sufficient enough for the US authorities unless it came from its own troops or as a physical piece of evidence. After the war, some of the witnesses of the horrors of BW were never further interviewed, and the reports they voluntarily provided were dismissed. 
Some settings of preparations were carried out due to the concern that was caused by US military intelligence G2’s reports in the spring of 1941, which were considered as reliable information. Immunization for US troops against yellow fewer was suggested and carried out, and follow-up research on biological warfare was strongly urged to be continued with. Meanwhile of reports of Japanese BW activity surfaced, similar news came considering the Nazi-Germany. In May 1941, American Military Attaché briefing brought up news about Nazi Germany’s BW testing site in Switzerland building up air-burst bombs. This, among others, caused increasing concern over the matter, and the War Bureau of Consultants (WBC) voiced that biological warfare was indeed a serious hazard to the United States. 
Usage of some kind of BW had now become into US’s awareness, regarding two countries that were known to be militarily strong and forceful. Now, the US fully acknowledged the danger such weapons could bring on civilians — one that they had diminished earlier. Therefore, it was strongly highlighted that the United States would additionally and quickly strengthen its own BW research. After the US heard about the trained Japanese parachute troops and their alleged spreading of bacteria, the US no longer could have had denied the Japanese study on the topic. 
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Sources:
National Archives and Records Administration. 
​
Lebeda, Frank J., et al. “Yesterday and Today: The Impact of Research Conducted at Camp Detrick on Botulinum Toxin.” Military Medicine, vol. 183, no. 5/6, May 2018, pp. 85–95.

To read more on how the United States covered up Unit 731: 

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  • Home
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      • Unit 731 - Guide >
        • Background of Biochemical Warfare Development
        • Imperial Japan's Chemical Warfare Development Program
        • Map of Unit 731
        • Personnel of Unit 731
        • Duties of Unit 731
        • Human Experimentation
        • [GRAPHIC] Germ Warfare Attacks
        • Cover Ups After the War
        • [OLD] Cover Ups After the War
      • Philippines' Resistance - Guide >
        • Philippines World War II Timeline
        • The Japanese Invasion & Conquest of the Philippines
        • Bataan Death March
        • Formation of Underground Philippines Resistance
        • Supplies of the Guerrilla Fighters
        • The Hukbalahap
        • Hunter's ROTC
        • Marking's Guerrillas
        • United States Army Forces in the Philippines of Northern Luzon (USAFIP-NL)
        • The Aetas
        • Chinese and Filipino-Chinese Nationalist Guerrilla Units
        • The Female Faces of the Philippine Guerrillas
      • Rising Sun Flag - Guide >
        • History of the Rising Sun Flag
        • Atrocities Committed Under the Flag
        • Rising Sun Flag in Pop Culture
      • Pinay Guerrilleras - Guide >
        • Japanese Occupation of the Philippine Islands: Pinays Answering the Call to Arms
        • The Fierce Heneralas and Kumanders of the Hukbalahap Guerrillas
        • Amazons of the Pacific Theater
        • Filipina American Veterans: Recovering the Extraordinary Feats of the Ordinary Pinays
        • The Legacy of the Asian Women Soldier
      • Fall of Singapore - Guide >
        • Singapore World War II Timeline
        • History of World War II in the Pacific
        • History of Singapore
        • Japan's Conquest in Asia
        • Japan's Invasion of the Malay Peninsula
        • Sook Ching Massacre
        • Double Tenth Incident
        • Social Changes and Challenges in Singapore
        • Voices from Syonan
        • Return to British Rule
      • Three Years and Eight Months - Guide >
        • Hong Kong before WW2
        • Buildup to World War 2
        • The Battle of Hong Kong
        • Life during 3 Years and 8 Months
        • East River Column Guerrilla Fighters
        • Prisoners of War Camps
        • End of Japanese Occupation
        • War Crimes Trials
      • Siamese Sovereignty - Guide >
        • The Land of Smiles
        • The Thai-Japanese Relationship
        • Phibun’s Domestic and International Policies
        • The Free Thai Resistance Movement
        • Post WW2 Aftermath of Thailand
      • The Khabarovsk War Crimes Trial - Guide >
        • Defendants of Khabarovsk War Crime
        • The Japanese Empire and USSR in WW2
        • The Employment of the Bacteriological Weapon in the War
        • Planning of Japan invasion to USSR
      • Unit 731 Cover-up : The Operation Paperclip of the East - Guide >
        • Establishing Manchukuo
        • The Development of Unit 731
        • Plan Kantokuen and Bacteriological Warfare
        • The Downfall of the Japanese WW2 Era
        • Three Stages of Interrogations
        • Lasting Impacts
      • Marutas of Unit 731 - Guide >
        • How did Ishii Shiro start unit 731?
        • A Beta Testing Site
        • Establishing Pingfan
        • Experiences at the Human Experimentation Complex
        • Vivisection at the Unit 731
        • Anta Testing Grounds
        • Overall Advance from the Laboratory Creations
        • The End of the War
      • Prince Konoe Memoir - Guide >
        • Who is Prince Konoe?
        • Preparation to Tripartite Pact
        • Emperor Hirohito and Prince Konoe
        • The End of Prince Konoe
      • Competing Empires in Burma - Guide >
        • What was the China-Burma-India Theater?
        • When did the China-Burma-India Theater Happen?
        • Who Fought in the China-Burma-India Theater?
        • The Second Sino Japanese War
        • Japan in the South
        • Operation U-Go
      • Battle of Shanghai - Guide >
        • The Battle of Shanghai. Background
        • Shanghai Before War
        • The First Battle of Shanghai 1932
        • Battle of Shanghai 1937
        • Aftermath of Battle for Shanghai
      • Ishi Shiro - Guide >
        • History of Biological Weapons and The Young Ishii Shiro
        • Establishment in Manchuria
        • Pingfang District - Harbin
        • Failures and Corruption
        • Post War
      • Taiwan The Israel of the East - Guide >
        • Background of Formosa
        • Industrialization of Japan
        • China During WWII
        • Taiwan under Kuomintang
        • New Taiwanese National Identity
      • Seeking Justice for Biological Warfare Victims of Unit 731 - Guide >
        • Introduction of Wang Xuan
        • Colonel Memorandum
        • The Beginning of Biological Warfare
        • The Bacteriological Warfare on China
        • Victims in Zhejiang’s Testimonies
        • After the War
      • Rice and Revolution - Guide >
        • The French Colonial Period
        • Anti-Colonial Resistance
        • The Rise of the Communist Movement
        • Imperial Japan’s Entry into Indochina
        • The Portents of Famine
        • The Famine (1944-45)
        • Legacy of the 1944-45 Vietnam Famine
      • Clash of Empires - Guide >
        • Japan’s Imperialist Origins
        • Japan’s Competition against the West: Nanshin-ron and Hokushin-ron
        • Japanese Imperialism Through the Lens of French Indochina
        • The U.S.-Japan Relations and the Pearl Harbor Attack
      • Hunger for Power and Self-SufficiencyI - Guide >
        • The Influence of War Rations on Post-War Culinary Transformations
        • How World War II Complicated Food Scarcity and Invention
        • American Military Innovations
        • Government-Sponsored Food Inventions in Europe during World War II
        • Feeding the Army: The Adaptation of Japanese Military Cuisine and Its Impact on the Philippines
        • Mixed Dishes: Culinary Innovations Driven by Necessity and Food Scarcity
    • Lesson Plans >
      • Reparations
      • Ethics in Science
      • Writing the Narrative of a Pinay Fighter
      • Privilege Journal
      • Environmental Injustices
      • Female Guerrillas
      • Hunter's ROTC
      • Scientific Advancements
      • Seeking Justice: A Humanities Lesson Plan
      • The Hukbalahap
      • Trading Immunity
      • Bataan Death March
      • Biochemical Warfare Development
Contribute