My Uncle is a WW II Navy veteran. May I state my gratitude to all veterans of that terrible war.
My Mother was also in her teens on Dec.7, 1941. She was visiting a sick uncle with her parents, somewhere in the boonies near Los Angeles. She said that they never turned the radio on during their visit, so they didn't know about the attack right away. When they left for home, on the 8th or 9th, they were stopped by a policeman, who began to ask them all sorts of questions, like where have you been, where are you going, how come you're travelling at night...they couldn't figure out what all the fuss was about, until the policeman finally realized they hadn't heard about Pearl Harbor, and told them. They were absolutely shocked. Everybody in the L.A. area was pretty nervous, since there was nothing between them and the Japanese at that point.