Thanks for the info. I thought it was LA, but wasn’t sure.
2HardDrive: Here is the Wikipedia entry for what is commonly called the “Battle of Los Angeles”.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Los_Angeles
The incident happened on the night of February 24 & 25, 1942. So you were right LVD, it was during WWII. In fact, the reason they were probably so “alert” was that on February 23rd, a Japanese submarine had surfaced off the coast and fired on a Santa Barbara Oil Production facility, and word was the submarine headed south after the incident towards LA.
This incident was witnessed by a great many people, was accompanied by air raid sirens, and was covered in papers up and down the Pacific Coast and apparently some National mass media coverage as well. Newspaper photos are included on the WikiPage.
Hope this helps. :)
HELPS MY AGING MEMORY A LOT!
I knew there was a term for it but hadn’t dredged up
THE BATTLE of LA
THANKS THANKS.