_December 7, 1941, New York City, New York_


Three friends of mine and I went to see Errol Flynn and Olivia de Havilland in _They Died with Their Boots On_ at the Loew's 42nd Street theatre. We'd gone for the Matinee on Sunday afternoon, and when we walked out of the theater, and walked into Times Square, we were stunned -'*Japs Bomb Pearl Harbor*' the 'zipper' read. We stared at the chain of lights as they moved in disbelief. I instantly knew I'd be called to active duty as soon as the ink was dry on the Declaration of War that was sure to come.

Billy Jones had asked if I'd be heading to San Diego and I told him I expected so. That led to a discussion between Billy, Matt Ripko, Miles Bradford, and me about our options. Matt had said he was going to enlist in the Marines in the morning on account his dad had been a Marine during the Great War.

Miles, always the dead battery, was worried about being drafted. He was the runt of the pack, but he had learned to fly an old Stearman 4, so we suggested he look at the Army Air Corps. Billy decided to opt for the Navy because as he put it, his sense of adventure was hiding behind his sense of self-preservation, and carrying a rifle onto some beach somewhere didn't seem to be the safest thing to do.

I said goodbye to my friends and headed to our family townhouse on 47th. My parents were at our house on Long Island, so I picked up the phone to call my father. He answered right away and gave me a bit more information from the radio. From the sound of things, the Japanese had sneak-attacked bases all over the Pacific and sunk quite a few ships in Pearl Harbor. The Germans hadn't moved against us in any way, so it looked like my fluency in German wasn't going to amount to a hill of beans.

After I hung up with my father, I called Mille and let her know I'd probably miss our next date on Friday. She was worried about me, but I told her it would be some time before I'd be in harm's way. I promised to call her as soon as I heard from the Navy. She asked about work, and I told her I'd be at W2XBS, working with their engineers on the experimental TV broadcasts. I figured my tenure with RCA wasn't going to survive past Tuesday or Wednesday. When I hung up with her, I fixed myself a pan steak and some potatoes, and decided to turn in early. I expected to be short on sleep for as long as it took to sail into Tokyo harbor and put an end to the Japanese navy.