Just before 8 a.m. on December 7, 1941, hundreds of Japanese fighter planes attacked the American naval base at Pearl Harbor near Honolulu, Hawaii. The attack lasted just two hours, but it was devastating: The Japanese managed to destroy nearly 20 American …show more content…
As millions of men and women entered the service and production boomed, unemployment virtually disappeared. The need for labor opened up new doors for women and African Americans and other minorities to get into the workforce. Millions of Americans left home to take jobs in factories that shot up around the nation. The war effort on the "HomeFront" required sacrifices and cooperation. "Don't you know there's a war on?" was a common expression. Rationing became part of everyday life. Americans learned to conserve any and all vital resources that they had. They lived with price controls, dealt with shortages of everything from nylons to housing, and volunteered for jobs ranging from air raid warden to Red Cross