Sixty-nine years ago the United States was attacked at Pearl Harbor by the Japanese. In what President Roosevelt called a day of infamy, the United States was drawn into the world's most destructive, devastating war.
I lived in Seattle in those dark days. The military was not prepared to take on a two front war. One of 35 anti-aircraft guns available to protect the west coast was located at the city playground not far from our house. We kids thought it pretty impressive. The barrel pointing upward and nearby the big ears of a sound detector which was designed to hear aircraft engines of approaching aircraft and determine their altitude and direction in which they were flying. No radar, just sound. We were unprepared to fight. Had the Japs landed on the west coast that day, the only protection the country could offer were the Rocky Mountains.
There was one factor which only Japanese Admiral Yamamoto recognized. He said at the time of the attack, "We have awakened a sleeping giant." From the destruction of the Pacific Fleet, the loss of 2,500 American lives, the sleeping giant, the American character shook itself from the depression of the 1930s which was still ongoing in 1941, took a deep breath, and joined in defeating two of the greatest threats to freedom the world has ever experienced.
On December 8, the United States declared war on Japan. On December 11, Germany and Italy declared war on the United States. In four days, the United States took on which, at the time, were two undefeated military opponents, the Germans and the Japanese. There was no hesitation. There was no fear. Deep concern, but no thought of letting either the Japanese or Germans take away our liberty and freedom.
America had the industry to do the job. Natural resources which God had provided our nation were plentiful. Factories producing consumer products were converted to the production of war materials. Singer Sewing Machine production was changed to weapons manufacturing in a matter of months. Aircraft production exploded and in less than a year the Boeing plant in Seattle was producing a B-17 Flying Fortress every hour, 24 hours a day, and they were only one of many plants which built the mightiest air force in the world. The American worker was up to the job and provided all the materials that the U.S. military needed to fight a two front war while at the same time produced enough additional materials to supply our allies.
The Army, Navy, and Marine Corps expanded rapidly. Before the 1939 draft, the Army alone was only 175,000 men strong. The draft increased it to 1.4 million before December 7. The response of the country after Pearl Harbor was a rapid increase it the Army's size, not only because of the draft but of patriots who enlisted, to more than 8.3 million men by the end of the war in 1945.
Were it not for the United States involvement, the war would certainly have been lost. Without America's men, resources, know-how, and America's belief in God, World War Two would have been lost.
It was the American spirit which made the difference. American pride, courage, and determination freed the world from oppression and saved our country, our liberty, and freedom. It was the American ethic which, after the war was over, rebuilt Europe, including Germany, Italy, and Japan. The United States took nothing in the way of conquered lands. It helped the countries devastated by war, aided people displaced from their homes, fed the hungry and cured the sick, not because it had to, but because it was right.
Sixty-nine years ago America suffered through the beginning of a world changing conflict. But in the long run, it won and for a while the world was a better place.
December 7, 1941 was not a disgrace, disaster, or humiliation. It was a day which showed that the American dream was capable of reaching into its deepest inner soul and meeting any challenge. That dream still lives.
I lived in Seattle in those dark days. The military was not prepared to take on a two front war. One of 35 anti-aircraft guns available to protect the west coast was located at the city playground not far from our house. We kids thought it pretty impressive. The barrel pointing upward and nearby the big ears of a sound detector which was designed to hear aircraft engines of approaching aircraft and determine their altitude and direction in which they were flying. No radar, just sound. We were unprepared to fight. Had the Japs landed on the west coast that day, the only protection the country could offer were the Rocky Mountains.
There was one factor which only Japanese Admiral Yamamoto recognized. He said at the time of the attack, "We have awakened a sleeping giant." From the destruction of the Pacific Fleet, the loss of 2,500 American lives, the sleeping giant, the American character shook itself from the depression of the 1930s which was still ongoing in 1941, took a deep breath, and joined in defeating two of the greatest threats to freedom the world has ever experienced.
On December 8, the United States declared war on Japan. On December 11, Germany and Italy declared war on the United States. In four days, the United States took on which, at the time, were two undefeated military opponents, the Germans and the Japanese. There was no hesitation. There was no fear. Deep concern, but no thought of letting either the Japanese or Germans take away our liberty and freedom.
America had the industry to do the job. Natural resources which God had provided our nation were plentiful. Factories producing consumer products were converted to the production of war materials. Singer Sewing Machine production was changed to weapons manufacturing in a matter of months. Aircraft production exploded and in less than a year the Boeing plant in Seattle was producing a B-17 Flying Fortress every hour, 24 hours a day, and they were only one of many plants which built the mightiest air force in the world. The American worker was up to the job and provided all the materials that the U.S. military needed to fight a two front war while at the same time produced enough additional materials to supply our allies.
The Army, Navy, and Marine Corps expanded rapidly. Before the 1939 draft, the Army alone was only 175,000 men strong. The draft increased it to 1.4 million before December 7. The response of the country after Pearl Harbor was a rapid increase it the Army's size, not only because of the draft but of patriots who enlisted, to more than 8.3 million men by the end of the war in 1945.
Were it not for the United States involvement, the war would certainly have been lost. Without America's men, resources, know-how, and America's belief in God, World War Two would have been lost.
It was the American spirit which made the difference. American pride, courage, and determination freed the world from oppression and saved our country, our liberty, and freedom. It was the American ethic which, after the war was over, rebuilt Europe, including Germany, Italy, and Japan. The United States took nothing in the way of conquered lands. It helped the countries devastated by war, aided people displaced from their homes, fed the hungry and cured the sick, not because it had to, but because it was right.
Sixty-nine years ago America suffered through the beginning of a world changing conflict. But in the long run, it won and for a while the world was a better place.
December 7, 1941 was not a disgrace, disaster, or humiliation. It was a day which showed that the American dream was capable of reaching into its deepest inner soul and meeting any challenge. That dream still lives.
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