American Legacies Organization, Inc.

U.S. Declaration of War on Germany

The President's Message

To the Congress of the United States:

On the morning of December 11 the Government of Germany, pursuing its course of world conquest, declared war against the United States.

The long-known and the long-expected has thus taken place. The forces endeavoring to enslave the entire world now are moving toward this hemisphere.

Never before has there been a greater challenge to life, liberty and civilization.

German Declaration of War with the United States : December 11, 1941

December 11, 1941

(Including the circumstances of the delivery of the note as released to the press by the Department of State, December 11, 1941.)

­Paul Harvey’s Famous “Warning to America” Essay from 1965.

Selected Dispatches

Dispatches

The following is a collection of dispatches relevant to the topic. Care should be taken in noting that not all the information enclosed was known to all parties and that some of the coded messages were not deciphered until well after the commencement of hostilities.

To: Tokyo Date: 16 Jan. 41

Franklin D. Roosevelt's "Day of Infamy" Speech

To the Congress of the United States:

Yesterday, December 7, 1941 -- a date which will live in infamy -- the United States of America was suddenly and deliberately attacked by naval and air forces of the Empire of Japan.

Japanese Note to the United States December 7, 1941
(Generally referred to as the "Fourteen Part Message")

(Dept. of State Bulletin, Vol. V, No. 129, Dec. 13, 1941)

On November 26 the Secretary of State handed to the Japanese representatives a document which stated the principles governing the policies of the Government of the United States toward the situation in the Far East and setting out suggestions for a comprehensive peaceful settlement covering the entire Pacific area.

(Dept. of State Bulletin, Vol. V, No. 129, Dec. 13, 1941)

The following message from the President to the Emperor of Japan was dispatched Saturday afternoon, December 6, and public announcement was made at that time that this message to the Emperor had been sent by the President:

Author Unknown

It was Christmas Eve 1942. I was fifteen years old and feeling like the world had caved in on me because there just hadn't been enough money to buy me the rifle that I'd wanted for Christmas.

We did the chores early that night for some reason. I just figured Daddy wanted a little extra time so we could read in the Bible. After supper was over I took my boots off and stretched out in front of the fireplace and waited for Daddy to get down the old Bible.

Connie Sychowski

Editor Genealogy Corner

In 1928 at the age of 5, my grandfather was building a table and chairs for my mother for Christmas. On Christmas Eve when he was bringing it down from the attic, my mother who was to be sleeping there on the day bed (sofa), wasn’t. She didn’t dare let on that she was lying there awake, he would have been so angry! He had painted it a beautiful bright red.

Amanda Light Long

As a result of recently attending the Long family reunion , I can identify one of your pictures. If you look at #85, that is Amanda Light Long.

She was married to David Long. He was gassed during WW I.