Did you know?
(Editor’s note: This is the second story in a two-part series)
Last week, I took a look back at the month before the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor.
While much of Europe was already engulfed in war, the United States remained at peace.
Yet Fayette County’s newspaper readers were becoming increasingly aware of the possibilities of joining the fight against Germany’s vicious war machine.
In early November of 1941, there were a number of reports about U.S. Navy vessels that had been attacked by German submarines.
Meanwhile, in the Nov. 15 edition of the Uniontown Evening Standard, it was reported that Japanese envoy Saburo Kurusa had arrived in Washington in an effort to diminish the growing tensions between his country and the United States.
To me, it’s important to note that while many Americans believe that the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor came as a complete surprise, there is proof in that day’s edition of the Evening Standard that it was not.
Great Britain, according to that front-page story, had pledged support for the United States if it was attacked by Japan.
And there were numerous reports that there were “Japanese troop movements (that) have seemed to indicate that Japan is preparing for drastic action.”
On page six of the Evening Standard that day, there was a report of a local war of sorts.
It was the account of the battle for Fayette County football supremacy. The defending AA WPIAL champion Brownsville Brownies had taken on that year’s WPIAL championship favorites – the Connellsville Cokers.
Brownsville had been the underdog. But by managing a 13-13 tie against Connellsville’s juggernaut, it was called “the biggest upset of the year.”
That tie severely hurt the chances that Connellsville could succeed Brownsville as the AA WPIAL champions.
Nov. 21 — Over 100 shots were fired, and 12 striking coal miners were seriously injured at Fredericktown and Edenborn, as their strike spread to four states.
Those miners had been walking picket lines when non-striking miners reportedly opened fire on them.
Nov. 22 — Two more picketing miners were wounded by a sniper at Edenborn.
Pennsylvania Gov. Arthur H. James still refused to send “motor” police protection, despite the second plea by Fayette County Sheriff Charles T. Frock.
James claimed the situation wasn’t “out of hand.”
Nov. 28th — Despite the suggestions by the Tokyo government that a “cooling off” period might be reached between Japan and the United States, there was a report of massive troop movement to support its war against China.
On the sports page, it was reported that 4,000 people turned out to watch the Thanksgiving Day football game between German and Masontown high schools.
German easily won that game 26-0.
Nov. 29 — It was reported that F.C. Robinson of Smithfield had made a rather unusual discovery. It seems when he went outside to drive away in his new Buick, a much older car was in its place.
Robinson, it turned out, was the victim of a car theft, in which the thief left the older car and took his new one.
But that wasn’t the end of the story. It was also discovered that the older car was stolen too. A Grantsville, Md., woman claimed that that car had been stolen on Thanksgiving Day.
Dec. 1 — There was a bulletin about how negotiations between the United States and Japan had faced a “difficulty.” It was further noted that the Japanese government “is making preparations to meet all eventualities.”
There was a large, three-line headline at the top of that day’s Evening Standard that in 2011 now seems haunting: U.S. “Army and Navy chiefs confer at Manila as Jap showdown nears,” it said.
Dec. 3 — With the Christmas shopping season approaching, Uniontown’s police chief, A. W. Davis, urged shoppers to remain diligent against pickpocket thieves, and to take care to lock their car doors.
Dec. 6 — Uniontown’s Congressman, J. Buell Snyder, who had been sent by President Roosevelt on a special mission to England, was headed back to the United States.
Snyder told reporters that there was no “expectation of a U.S. expeditionary force,” to help the British in the fight against Hitler’s forces.
He admitted that England was looking to the U.S. for munitions, but not for men.
However, the major headline on the front page of the Evening Standard: “Japs Renew Bitter (verbal) Attacks on U.S., Say Peace or War Up to Roosevelt,” indicated that all efforts to defuse the mounting tensions between the two countries were on the verge of failing.
Dec. 8 — “War declared on Japs by Congress; ‘We Will Win – So Help Us God,’ President Roosevelt,” was perhaps, one of the most dramatic headlines most local newspaper readers had ever seen.
It was the result of the attack by the Japanese on Pearl Harbor the previous day, and the declaration of war voted on by the U.S. Congress in a mere 33 minutes.
The United States was now at war with the Japanese in the Pacific, and just three days later the U.S. Congress would declare war against Germany and Italy.
The world has never been the same.
Edward A. Owens can be reached by email at freedoms@bellatlantic.net