World War 2 – the Country Comes Together
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The Country Comes Together
“Yesterday, December 7, 1941-a date that will live in infamy-
the United States of America was suddenly and deliberately
attacked by naval and air forces of the Empire of Japan.”
When the United States was attacked by the Japanese on
December 7, 1941 we were a third rate military power. By the end of the war in 1945 we were producing more weapons and firepower than the rest of the world put together. The American people realized that in order to defeat our enemies and win this war it was necessary to work together toward this goal.
It took a tremendous exercise of American will and power to turn the tide, a national mobilization such as this country had never seen before, and may never see again. Fueling this was raw revenge, retribution for the humiliating defeat at Pearl Harbor. Pearl Harbor might be the greatest
American victory of the war. It awoke a sleeping giant.
Sixteen million Americans served in the armed forces in the war. Many jobs opened up for women. Women made airplanes, bombs, and ships, and performed secret administrative work on the atomic bomb project. Women joined the WACS and the WAVES, auxiliary forces of the Army and Navy. Theyalso served with the Women Air Force Service Pilots, known as the WASPS. The war also lured black people by the millions from cotton fields in the south to northern industrial centers.
For the United States World War II lasted more than four years. By the time the Japanese signed the surrender documents on September 2, 1945 the people of the United States had been working together and suffering together for a very long time. For some Americans, wartime prosperity, coming on the
heels of the Great Depression was an absolute miracle. For others, such as those who lost their loved ones, the war had caused them great pain and suffering.
Our great country came together at a time when our own safety and freedom was a stake. Everyone did their part and did without many things in order to reach our common goal, which was to defeat our enemies, win the war, and keep our country and our people safe and free.