The Japanese attack on Pearl harbor took place on Sunday, December 7th, 1941. By the following Wednesday, America was formally at war with Japan, Germany, and Italy.
As the United States entered the conflict, it had 1.8 million citizens in uniform. Over the next twelve months, that number would more than double as another two million men and women enlisted or were drafted. By the end of the war, over 12 million Americans would be serving in America’s armed forces. 8.7 million of them went overseas.
My mother and father were two of the 8.7 million Americans who served on foreign shores during World War II. But, in January of 1942, they were still civilians and 5 full years away from the chance meeting my existence would depend on.
Continue reading “Early 1942: Enlisting in the Cause”