My Dad always told the story of how he realised the US knew it was going to be in WWII well before Pearl Harbor (in hindsight not a major piece of perception).
As a boy in Derry in Northern Ireland he was impressed by the arrival of US construction workers who were “helping” the British Navy upgrade their base. It was never made clear what role these men were playing but they were seen each morning being trucked down to the base in their civilian clothes.
Until the morning after Pearl Harbor when they were trucked to the base wearing their USN uniforms, they were all Seabees.
I wonder how often this was being repeated at “British” bases (that immediately transformed into US bases) across the world before Pearl Harbor.
“the US knew it was going to be in WWII well before Pearl Harbor”
Yup..the books I have been reading claim that they had plans in place in the mid thirties and the plan was basically the same as really played out. They knew the Pearl was going to be hit and the Philippines as well.
It’s kind of a shame the FDR wouldn’t commit more Naval assets to the Pacific sooner, instead opting for the European theater; it caused a lot of grief among the Naval commanders tasked with defending the US in the Pacific, even after Pearl Harbor!!
Those Seabees may have been part of the Destroyers For Bases and Lend-Lease programs that preceded our entry into the war. It was FDR’s way of ramping up our military when Congress was still isolationist in 1940 & 1941