The Power of Testimony

RAY AND BETTY WHIPPS
Whatever personal feelings the letters stirred, public
support for the war was high. We all knew that the
German-​ Italian alliance was a threat to the United States,
and with France having already fallen to Germany, it
was clear that the Allies had quite a fight on their hands.
Signing up to do one’s duty, whether that meant fighting,
taking a job in a factory, or serving in some other way, was
an act of patriotism.
As soon as Forrest pulled into the parking lot at the
lake, I knew something was wrong. Typically people parked
and then headed down to the water, but that day everyone
was huddled together around the cars, talking over one
another or leaning in to listen to radios.
“What’s going on?” Forrest said as he pulled up alongside
a Ford sedan. “Why isn’t anyone down at the lake?”
“You didn’t hear?” A girl who looked to be about my age
scrunched up her face in disbelief. “Pearl Harbor has been
attacked.”
Forrest pulled his head back into the car and repeated
the news for the benefit of the girls in the back. Silence fell
for a second, and then Jeanie spoke up.
“What’s Pearl Harbor?”
More silence.
“I don’t know,” I said, looking at an equally confused
Forrest. “But it doesn’t sound good.”
It didn’t take long to find out, and before the end of
the following day, the significance of the attack was clear
to all of us. President Roosevelt’s voice boomed through
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