Dec. 7 marks the anniversary of the 1941 attack on Pearl Harbor by Japanese forces, a day President Franklin Delano Roosevelt consigned to history as a “date which will live in infamy.” The attack led the United States to enter World War II on the side of the Allied Forces, and the national mobilization to support the war effort was rapid and far-reaching.
Many cities and towns across the U.S. were transformed during those early years of the war. Families moved to new or developing industrial centers to take jobs in factories to help the war effort. Port cities became increasingly important for shipping soldiers, cargo and supplies overseas. Now, the National Park Service has begun recognizing those efforts with a recent program designating what it calls American World War II Heritage Cities.
This week Texas entered into the program with the selection of Corpus Christi – home to the Corpus Christi Naval Air Station and the USS Lexington – and the surrounding area recognized for their contributions to the war effort.