1941: Texas Goes to War: Texas Goes to War

In 1941, when the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor and the United States found itself in a total war, the people of Texas rallied to the war effort. Men and women rushed to join the armed forces. Those who remained behind—men, women, and children—were soldiers on the home front: They rolled bandages, spotted aircraft, trained for air raids, filled jobs left vacant by service men, collected scrap scrimped and saved and got by with rationed sugar, meat, shoes, tires, and gas. Texas became a cente...