What would happen today?
My father used to tell the story of December 7. He, his brother Bill, and a few other friends were in Frankie Hurley's basement playing ping-pong in their South Boston neighborhood that Sunday afternoon. Suddenly, the news of the attack came over the radio. He said first, everyone was in disbelief...they thought it was a prank, like Orson Wells' "War of the Worlds" radio broadcast had been. Then, as the afternoon progressed and it became clear it wasn't a hoax, the disbelief turned to anger. Literally, the next day, my father, my uncle Bill, and their friends went down to enlist and the line was out the door and down the sidewalk. My father and uncle were 21 and 19; their friends were also late teens/early 20's. My father and uncle were both in the navy through the end of the war and were lucky enough to come home. They always said that there was no question that you would serve in WW II if you were a young guy...it was "the right thing to do".
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