On December 7, Dec. 8 where he was, my dad’s ship was in a bad part of the world (Tarakan, Borneo) and received this dispatch-—”JAPAN STARTED HOSTILITIES; GOVERN YOURSELVES ACCORDINGLY”.
The Winds of War - Episode 7
“And if we don’t shoot first, we may not get a chance to shoot!”
https://youtu.be/OSfX61yWSwc?t=3439
An uncle of mine was getting ready to celebrate his eighteenth birthday when the news came just about noon EST.
Next day he went to the US Navy recruitment center on Ferry St. in Newark, NJ.
He spent the war in The Shore Patrol.