At 7:55 a. m. Hawaii time, a Japanese dive bomber bearing the red symbol of the Rising Sun of Japan on its wings appears out of the clouds above the island of Oahu. A swarm of 360 Japanese warplanes followed, descending on the U. S. naval base at Pearl Harbor in a ferocious assault. The surprise attack on December 7, 1941, struck a critical blow against the U. S. Pacific fleet and drew the United States irrevocably into World War II. The day after Pearl Harbor was bombed, President Roosevelt appeared before a joint session of Congress and declared, "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." After a brief and forceful speech, he asked Congress to approve a resolution recognizing the state of war between the United States and Japan. The Senate voted for war against Japan by 82 to 0, and the House of Representatives approved the resolution by a vote of 388 to 1. The sole dissenter was Representative Jeannette Rankin of Montana, a devout pacifist who had also cast a dissenting vote against the U. S. entrance into World War I.

Three days later, Germany and Italy declared war against the United States, and the U. S. government responded in kind. The American contribution to the successful Allied war effort spanned four long years and cost more than 400,000 American lives. Rankin was the first female to serve in the US Congress. Regarding her anti-war stance, she said, “As a woman, I can’t go to war, and I refuse to send anyone else.” How do you feel about Rankin sticking to her moral beliefs, even though it likely cost her reelection? Would you have the courage to do what you believe is right, even if you stand alone? Explain.