Allison Lassieur - The World War II Experience

YOU are living in the early 1940s. Much of the world is at war. The United States hopes to stay out of it. But Americans keep a close eye on events in Europe and Japan. When efforts to keep the peace fail, whose side will you choose?

In this book, youll explore how the choices people made meant the difference between life and death. The events youll experience happened to real people.

Chapter One sets the scene. Then you choose which path to read. Follow the links at the bottom of each page. After you finish one path, go back and read the others. Use your devices back buttons or page navigation to jump back to your last choice. Then try a different link for a new adventure.

YOU CHOOSE the path you take through history.

C HAPTER 1

It is November 1941, and the world is at war. The fighting started in the 1930s, as powerful leaders dreamed of expanding their empires. Now, the leaders of Japan, Italy, and Germany have signed an agreement to help each other reach their goals. Together, these countries are called the Axis powers.

Most of the world is focused on fighting in Europe. In 1939, German ruler Adolf Hitler invaded Poland. Since then, Denmark, Norway, Luxembourg, and France have fallen to Germany.

Leaders from Japan, Italy, and Germany signed an agreement to help each other in war.

But before there was war in Europe, there was war in Asia. In Japan, military leaders want more land and more natural resources. In 1931, they took control of the Chinese region of Manchuria. In 1937, they attacked China. Now they occupy most of eastern China. Japanese leaders talk of bringing all of Asia under their control.

Meanwhile, the United States hopes to avoid fighting. Instead of soldiers, U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt sends money to Great Britain. He cuts off trade with Japan.

By early December 1941, the situation is desperate. War is coming. You just dont know when or where.

Then, on the morning of December 7, 1941, something happens that will change the course of the war. And you find yourself right in the middle of it.

C HAPTER 2

As an officer in the Japanese Navy, you are one of the few who know about a top secret plan. For a few years, Admiral Isoroku Yamamoto and other leaders have been planning to attack the United States.

Yamamoto believes that only the United States has the power to stop Japans expansion. But Japan lacks the resources to win a long, drawn-out war with America. A sudden, swift attack could destroy the U.S. naval fleet. While it recovered, America would be unable to join the war. Meanwhile, Japan could expand as it wants.

Admiral Isoroku Yamamoto planned the surprise attack on Pearl Harbor.

Yamamotos plan must be kept secret, even from your fellow pilots. If any hint of the attack gets out, the mission will fail.

In the late summer of 1941, you and your fellow pilots begin training. Fighter pilots practice air combat. Bomber pilots learn attack formations and how to drop torpedoes from very low levels. The torpedo planes fly so low that they almost touch the rooftops of nearby houses. The commanding officers study maps and models of Pearl Harbor and Oahu Island, where the United States keeps its fleet.

Under the cover of darkness on November 26, 1941, the attack fleet slips out of Tokyo Harbor. There are six aircraft carriers, Akagi, Hiryu, Kaga, Shokaku, Soryu, and Zuikaku. The fleet also includes battleships, cruisers, submarines, destroyers, and more than 400 airplanes. It is the largest strike force youve ever seen.

The Japanese aircraft carrier Zuikaku was part of the attack force headed to Pearl Harbor.

You are aboard the aircraft carrier Akagi. The strike force heads for the launch point 200 miles north of Oahu. In early December, Vice Admiral Chuichi Nagumo gathers everyone together. I can now tell you what your mission is, he says. We are on our way to Pearl Harbor in Hawaii. We will attack the American military base there. You are to destroy every battleship and aircraft carrier there.

Everyone starts talking at once. Nagumo quiets the crowd. The attack will happen in two waves. The first group will attack the battleships and carriers. The second wave will attack what is left. Meanwhile, small submarines called midget subs will sneak into the harbor. We will attack the Americans from every side.

Youre sure the attack will be a great moment for Japan. The world will finally understand your countrys power. No matter what role you play in the attack, you will be making history.

Japanese pilots received their orders before taking off from the aircraft carrier.

The attack will begin at 6:00 in the morning on December 7. The night before, nobody sleeps. You talk for hours with the other pilots. Most of you are hopeful and proud of Japan for this bold attack. But some of the pilots are nervous. They say the sneak attack goes against the ancient Japanese customs of Samurai warriors. The Samurai used to say, It does not do to slit the throat of a sleeping man, one pilot says. It is wrong to attack without warning.

The next morning before you board your plane, you tie a white cloth called a hachimaki around your forehead. The cloth is marked with the symbol of the Rising Sun, just like on the Japanese flag. Written on the cloth are the Japanese words for sure victory. Wearing the cloth means you are ready to die for your country.

As you wait for your turn to take off, the ship pitches and rolls. You must wait for the winds to die down. Fifteen minutes later, you finally take off into the darkness.