We shall give every possible assistance to Britain and all who are with Britain resisting Hitlerism or its equivalent. Franklin D Roosevelt
I hope the United States will keep out of this war. I believe that it will. I give you assurance and re-assurance that every effort of your government will be directed toward that end. Franklin D Roosevelt, September 1939
cf.
December 7th 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. Franklin D Roosevelt
I ask that the Congress declare that since the unprovoked and dastardly attack by Japan on Sunday December 7th 1941 – a state of war has existed between the United States and the Japanese empire. ibid.
We are going to win this war, and we are going to win the peace that follows. Franklin D Roosevelt, 9th December 1941
Slap the Japs with your rubber scraps. Popular American scheme
Patton Struck Ailing Soldier; Apologized to Him and Army. The New York Times article
All eight US battleships are put out of action. 1178 Americans are wounded; 2403 are killed. America: The Story of the US: WWII, History 2010
Twenty-seven hours after the attack America declares war on Japan. Three days later the US is at war with Germany. ibid.
World War II strikes America. Pulled into war the US must use its industrial might to create a war machine that can fight on two fronts. By doing so it sets itself on the road to becoming a superpower. ibid.
World War II. America sets to work. In this war mass production will be America’s greatest weapon: 88,000 tanks, 7,333 ships, 20,000,000 rifles and small arms, and 40,000,000,000 bullets produced in four years. 43,000,000 men are registered for combat service. But America needs more man-power: Women. ibid.
World War II will cost the US $300 billion. ibid.
More than seventy thousand American troops are about to invade German-held France. Over a thousand will die on the first day: June 6th 1944, D-Day. ibid.
It was here off the coast of Northern Island that the battle of the Atlantic was won and lost. In these waters German U-boats and British merchant ships played a deadly game of cat and mouse. And the end-game in this titanic struggle would see the symbolic surrender of the U-boats into a Northern Irish port. World War II Unearthed, BBC 2012
On 30th August 1944 the Jacksonville, an American tanker carrying 14,000 tons of petrol from New York to London, was hit by a torpedo; it exploded in flames. ibid.
In the early years of the war the Allies’ convoy system had offered safe passage for the cargo ships crossing the Atlantic. ibid.
The U-boats responded to this by attacking en masse in big groups called Wolf Packs. ibid.
The German Air Force was close enough to attack the merchant fleet at will. ibid.