Letter to the Editor

To the Editor:

December 7, 1941

It has been on my mind as we move toward December 7. It was a bit before 2 p.m. on a Sunday afternoon—a comfortable day under the North Dakota skies. In those days we had church and Sunday school on Sunday afternoon 2-4 in the winter. This event has been written up many times but it goes like this for me.

Mother and I and the kids (sister Olive and brother Les) were in the Model A and waiting for Dad. I knew he had his ears glued to the radio. Finally my Dad’s report (not good) was that unidentified aircraft had attacked and heavily damaged Pearl Harbor.

For me that was the beginning of what would become World War II, a war that according to some estimates cost around 75 million people their lives worldwide.

The great depression was behind us and times were looking better. We (the United States) felt comfortably situated and insulated with the Pacific Ocean to our west and the Atlantic Ocean to our east. But now everything was different. We had been attacked.

President Roosevelt was concerned. Hitler had marched into Poland and proceeded through Belgium, Netherlands, France and Luxemberg. The attitude of the American people had changed.

The Americans had not wanted another war but this was too much. Where on earth could we or the smaller countries look for safety, opportunity and peace?

The next thing I witnessed is this. The issues that separated us no longer existed. We pulled together as a team—a United Front.

The lines of men were long—young men and women volunteering for service and families going to work in defense plants including members of our family. Also having to present stamps for rations of sugar, flour, shoes, or gasoline and more. The army needed that badly.

Everybody was urged to plant a victory garden. And you were to ask yourself, “Was this trip necessary?”

I also remember kids crying in the high school halls because sad news had come home from the front.

We all know that wars are hell on earth, but what must we do? What are the alternatives? What would our world be like today if the other side had won?

Hitler captured Norway on April 9, 1940 with a surprise attack. He liked Norway’s deep sea ports and its heavy water development and supply. Its use was in the fierce and competitive atomic bomb progress.

The immobilization of that plant by the Norwegians is very interesting. I lost four Norwegian cousins in that conquest—two on my mother’s side and two on my father’s side.

We have just paused to give thanks for all the blessings we have been given. But let us not forget the sacrifices of many for our nation and the world.

Clarence Horsager

Verndale