The event that thrust the United States into World War II took place 66 years ago today: the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, Hawaii. Waves of Japanese planes broke the quiet of a sunny Sunday morning, damaging or destroying U.S. warships and planes and killing more than 2400 people, both military and civilian.A day later, on December 8th, President Franklin Roosevelt 
went before a joint session of Congress to declare the attack an act of infamy and ask for a declaration of war. It was granted within hours. This year's commemoration in Hawaii is remembering life on the home front. The Islands endured three years of martial law. Joan Rodby, who was ten at the time, says it was "more or less living in constant fear" that the attackers were going to come back." She recalls having to carry a gas mask everywhere, even for her fifth-grade class photo. Japan surrendered on September 2nd 1945. Germany had surrendered three months earlier.
No comments:
Post a Comment