World War II Woman

December 7, 1941 (Day 2)

November 13, 2008 – 6:00 am

More memories from women whose stories appear in my book, We Knew We Were at War: Women Remember World War II.

• December 7, 1941 is very vivid in Carol’s mind. Her grandparents, cousins, and other family members were together that Sunday afternoon in Union, New Jersey. As usual, all of the cousins were laughing, giggling and having lots of fun. They were used to hearing the adults telling them to be quiet, but this particular Sunday, someone shouted, “Be quiet!” in such a way, that they knew something momentous had happened.
• Annabelle’s birthday is December 7. In 1941, she recalls that she, her parents, and some friends drove to a turkey farm in Maryland. Here her father, a butcher, made arrangements to purchase turkeys for the Christmas season. They returned home late. It wasn’t until the next day that Annabelle learned of the attack on Pearl Harbor. She recalls vividly the assembly at school when the students and teachers all listened to President Roosevelt’s radio speech calling December 7 “a day which will live in infamy.” Most of the girls were crying, and to add to the trauma, the math teacher stood up and said he was enlisting. High drama!
• Annabelle’s husband Bob was attending graduate school at the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia. His apartment was close to the elevated line, so close that riders in the cars could see the window of his apartment. When Bob heard the news of the Pearl Harbor attack, he prepared a large sign with the word, “WAR” in large letters and put it in the window. He often wondered how many people may have learned of the attack from his sign.
• On December 7, 1941, Irene and her family were visiting an uncle in Metuchen, New Jersey. After a midday dinner, her brother and she left the adults to go to the soda fountain at the local drugstore. While there, they heard on the radio that Pearl Harbor had been attacked. They ran home to tell the adults who had not yet heard the news.

For more World War II stories, go to www.peggeorge.com