TABLE OF CONTENTS The Surprise Attack Rosie the Riveter WASP Takes Flight The Tuskegee Airmen A Secret Code Advanced Radio System Hiding in Plain Sight Timeline Glossary Source Notes Index 4 6 10 16 20 23 25 28 30 30 31
4 THE SURPRISE ATTACK The US remained neutral for two years during the Second World War 1939-1945 But everything changed on December 7 1941 That day the Japanese navy bombed Pearl Harbor a US naval base in Hawaii President Franklin D. Roosevelt declared war on Japan the next day The US had entered World War II The USS Shaw explodes during the attack on Pearl Harbor
The US United Kingdom and Soviet Union a union of republics that included Russia were the Big Three Allied powers They and other Allied countries fought the Axis powers Germany Italy and Japan World War II challenged America in more ways than the country could imagine Despite American practices of discrimination against people of color and LGBTQIA people many marginalized Americans wanted to help the country fight and win the war They faced hatred racism and sexism Yet these challenges didn't stop them from serving in the US military Wong Ruth Mae Moy works on part of an aircraft engine in 1943 USN 702 US Navy members train in 1942 5
