radio, as he addressed the Joint Session of Congress. His voice was strong and firm, filled
with angry determination.
“America will remember this onslaught…Righteous might will win…We will gain
the inevitable triumph, so help us, God.”
Fifteen minutes after Roosevelt had entered the Capitol, House Joint Resolution 254
was passed, declaring war on Japan. It was passed unanimously except for Representative
Jeannette Rankin of Montana, who voted against the declaration of war, so the final vote
was 388 to 1. President Roosevelt’s speech had taken exactly ten minutes—the shortest
war message ever delivered to an American Congress.
The crowd outside cheered, a full-throated roar of approval, anger and a promise of
vengeance. America was finally on the move.
Catherine studied the men and women standing near her. The faces of the men were
filled with the same look of exhilaration that she had seen on Larry’s face the day before,
as though they all belonged to the same secret club whose members felt that war was an
exciting sport. Even the women seemed caught up by the spontaneous enthusiasm that
swept through the crowd. But Catherine wondered how they would feel when their men
were gone and the women stood alone waiting for news of their husbands and sons.
Slowly Catherine turned and walked back toward the apartment. On the corner she saw
soldiers with fixed bayonets.
Soon, she thought, the whole country would be in uniform.
It happened even faster than Catherine had anticipated. Almost overnight Washington
was transformed into a world of a citizen army in khaki.
The air was filled with an electric, contagious excitement. It was as though peace
were a lethargy, a miasma that filled mankind with a sense of ennui, and it was only war
that could stimulate man to the full exhilaration of life.
Larry was spending sixteen to eighteen hours at the Air Base, and he often remained
there overnight. He told Catherine that the situation at Pearl Harbor and Hickam Field was
much worse than the people had been led to believe. The sneak attack had been
devastatingly successful. For all practical purposes America’s Navy and a good part of its
Air Corps had been destroyed.
“Are you saying that we could lose this war?” Catherine asked, shocked.
Larry looked at her thoughtfully. “It depends on how fast we can get ready,” he
replied. “Everyone thinks of the Japanese as funny little men with weak eyes. That’s
horseshit. They’re tough, and they’re not afraid to die. We’re soft.”
In the months that followed it seemed that nothing could stop the Japanese. The daily
headlines screamed out their successes: They were attacking Wake…softening up the
Philippine Islands for invasion…landing in Guam…in Borneo…in Hong Kong. General
MacArthur declared Manila an open city, and the trapped American troops in the
Philippines surrendered.