Sorry, folks, no funny white trash stuff today. Back in 1941, the United States, after years of isolation, after staying out of the war that was raging around the world, was attacked by the Empire of Japan, in an attempt to make sure that the USA could not fight in the Pacific.
So, what happened after that? FDR went on the radio and gave his famous "a day that will live in infamy" speech. Republicans, who for years had taken the position that we should not be involved in the war in Europe, should not even be providing aid to Great Britain, rallied around the President. You did not hear complaints from most Republicans. Sure, some called for simply staying home and protecting the borders, while war raged around the world. But most backed FDR to the hilt. And, we went and not only fought a war all the way to the other side of the Pacific, but, went on the offensive in Europe, against enemies that never attacked us.
We took folks of Japanese descent living on the West Coast and stuck them in camps, just to be safe. FDR started the Office of Censorship, to make sure the idiot media did not broadcast intelligence to the enemy. Body counts were not broadcast daily. Good news stories were constantly in the papers, and good news patriotic films were shown at the theaters prior to the main feature. Hollywood joined the fight, making their own movies that were pro-American.
And, guess what? We won. We won fighting long supply lines, island hopping, and Japanese soldiers that would not surrender, and would usually not take prisoners, either. An enemy that did not sign the Geneva Convention. And, we won on the other side of the Atlantic, fighting against professional armies. The figures show that we lost 3 for every one German soldier killed. But, we prevailed against brutal regimes, one of which made systematic murder into an assembly line.
We fought for Freedom for people we did not even know in Europe. We fought for the future, ours and the worlds. FDR could see the consequences of a free Europe vs a true fascist one under Hitler. And it was on this day, 1941, that America became the world’s policeman and savior.
