View the Stafford County community page

So much about the U.S.--and the world--changed 63 years ago

Pearl Harbor's aftermath continues to resonate.

Date published: 12/7/2004

IN THE HISTORY of the 20th century, there is probably no one single event where the day before and the day after were quite as different from one another as those that preceded and followed Dec. 7, 1941.

On that Sunday 63 years ago, a world that had seemed so comfortable and safe abruptly ended and was replaced by a new and much more dangerous era.

The day before Pearl Harbor, at least for most Americans, was quiet. It was a Saturday and with the economy reviving after more than a decade of depression, people were shopping, listening to college football, and generally going about their lives.

Sure, there was still a war raging in Europe, but even then, with the draft, and a massive investment in arms, as well as Lend-Lease, many Americans still doubted that the United States would ever become actively involved.

In fact, just the week before, a resolution in the House or Representatives to continue the draft--which had begun the year before as an emergency measure--passed that chamber by just a single vote.

America as a whole remained decidedly isolationist. The America First Movement--an organization committed to keeping America neutral and out of a war in Europe--was going strong. It had 450 chapters and about 300,000 members. They even had a big national rally planned in New York City for later in December.

Militarily, the United States was still woefully unprepared for war. Even with a draft, our army was small, and with so much ordnance going overseas to help the British and the Russians, it was decidedly underequipped.

New aircraft and ships were all on order, but thanks to a creaky military procurement system, they were still a long way from being deployed. In fact, Virginia's Sen. Harry Byrd was repeatedly asking the Roosevelt administration why the 50,000 new aircraft that the president had promised in his 1940 State of the Union message were still on order.

In 1940, President Roosevelt had moved the Pacific Fleet from its longtime base in San Diego to Pearl Harbor. He saw the Japanese as a threat, as did the Navy, but no one really thought them capable of a long-range attack on such a powerful U.S. stronghold.

Follow us on

Date published: 12/7/2004