Cobblestone articles from September 2007

Cobblestone archives from September 2007

Editor's note.
September 1, 2007... Who would you list if asked to name three people connected with World War II? You might start with Winston Churchill, Adolf Hitler, and Franklin D. Roosevelt. As world leaders in the 1940s, their names and stories are well known and covered in...

Moving toward war: America's official involvement in World War II began in 1941. But to fully understand the events of this conflict, it is important to understand the international situation in the years before the United States entered the war.
September 1, 2007... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] The United States was trying to protect itself from the trouble brewing in the rest of the world. America had its own problems in the 1930s--it was stuck in a severe economic depression. Back in 1917, the United...

Kids counted, too!
September 1, 2007... President Franklin D. Roosevelt had an important message for Americans on October 12, 1942. In that evening's radio-broadcast "fireside chat," he reminded listeners that the whole nation--men, women, and children--had to become one big fighting...

Our towns.
September 1, 2007... For more than a decade before America's entry into World War II in 1941, the United States had been struggling through the Great Depression. In this severe economic downturn, people lost their savings and their jobs and struggled to find any...

Victory in the Pacific.
September 1, 2007... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Japan was determined to build a colonial-style empire. Its attack on the American military base at Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941, was just the first step. Japanese military leaders hoped they could disable the...

A family affair.
September 1, 2007... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] When the United States entered World War II in 1941, American factories and shipyards were eager to supply the government with guns, ammunition, ships, and planes, but they faced a labor shortage. The men who formed...

Silent gun.
September 1, 2007... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] During World War II, more than 2.5 million African American men and women registered for the armed forces, but fewer than one million actually were called upon to serve. The discrimination and segregation blacks...

Behind barbed wire.
September 1, 2007... Eight-year-old Sascha Jean Weinzheimer (RIGHT) and her amah, or nanny, had to ride an hour and a half from the family's sugar plantation to Manila, the capital of the Philippines, for physical therapy. Sascha had gotten polio as a baby and...

Loyal Nisei: "we interrupt this program to bring you a special news bulletin. The Japanese have attacked Pearl Harbor!".
September 1, 2007... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] With this brief radio announcement, most Americans learned of the bombing of Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941. As if by reflex action, anti-Japanese hatred, which had been growing in the early 1900s,...

Did you know?
September 1, 2007... Americans at home found creative ways to help in the war effort or just get by. The classic piggybank was replaced by banks shaped like tanks, ships. or globes, which offered a look at the foreign places where American soldiers were...

A voice for Sascha.(Interview)
September 1, 2007... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] It all started with a scratch test. In 2004, 12-year-old Rebecca Holtz was doing what she loved--acting. She was performing in a theater production of Crazy for You in Walpole, New Hampshire. The costume designer for...

Medic!
September 1, 2007... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] This cry for help was heard on battlefields around the globe during World War II. And in response, brave members of the Medical Service Corps emerged from their foxholes, often in the midst of enemy gunfire, to treat...

Greetings from home.
September 1, 2007... [ILLUSTRATIONS OMITTED] Soldiers fighting overseas relied on support from home. Most of this support came in letters and packages. Some six billion letters were mailed overseas. These messages included news from home and good wishes, and...

From farmer to fighter.
September 1, 2007... Helping out on the family's 120-acre farm was just part of life for Quentin Aanenson. Aanenson grew up in Luverne, Minnesota, the county seat of Rock County. Just 3,600 people lived in this city and township in southwestern Minnesota in 1940....

The weight of words.
September 1, 2007... Shortly before 3 A.M. on June 6, 1944, Rock County Star-Herald newspaper editor Al McIntosh sleepily answered the telephone. "Get up, Al, and listen to the radio," the woman caller said. "The invasion has started." That Thursday, McIntosh...

Citizen Spotlight Award.
September 1, 2007... As Ken Burns says in our interview with him on page 36, during World War II the United States was a nation of great citizens. Americans rallied together and made sacrifices, and the ordinary became extraordinary. What do you think makes a...

From the bottom up: an interview with Ken Burns.(The Past Is Present)(Interview)
September 1, 2007... If you ask Ken Burns to choose a favorite film from among his many credits, he won't do it. He compares it to asking a parent to pick a favorite child. "I passionately love my job and what I am doing," he says. "I try to put the very best of me...

Word war puzzle.
September 1, 2007... Many of the answers to the clues for this crossword puzzle can be found in this issue. Others are basic but important facts about World War II that you can discover in an encyclopedia. See how many you can get right before searching for the...

U.S. Soldier.(Your Letters)
September 1, 2007... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Jeremy Tang Lisle, Illinois

Army pathfinder.(Your Letters)
September 1, 2007... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Jimmy Messmer Charlotte, North Carolina

Attention!(Your Letters)
September 1, 2007... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Sean McEahern Knoxville, Tennessee

Dropping in.(Your Letters)
September 1, 2007... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Noah Tang Lisle, Illinois

On patrol.(Your Letters)
September 1, 2007... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Paul Scherry Stone Ridge, New York

One Thousand Tracings: Healing the Wounds of World War II.(Books to Read)(Brief article)(Book review)
September 1, 2007... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] One Thousand Tracings: Healing the Wounds of World War II by Lita Judge (New York: Hyperion Books for Children, 2007, www .hyperionbooksforchildren.com) is the true story of an American family's efforts to send...

Remember Pearl Harbor: American and Japanese Survivors Tell Their Stories.(Books to Read)(war history books)(Brief article)(Book review)
September 1, 2007... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Remember Pearl Harbor: American and Japanese Survivors Tell Their Stories by Thomas B. Allen and Remember D-Day: The Plan, the Invasion, Survivor Stories by Ronald J. Drez (Washington, D.C.: National Geographic...

World War II: Europe.(Books to Read)(Brief article)(Book review)
September 1, 2007... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] World War II: Europe by Margaret J. Goldstein and World War II: Pacific by Barbara Williams (Minneapolis, Minnesota: Lerner Publications, 2004 and 2005, www .lernerbooks.com), from the Chronicle of America's Wars...

World War II for Kids: A History With 21 Activities.(Books to Read)(Brief article)(Book review)
September 1, 2007... World War II for Kids: A History With 21 Activities by Richard Panchyk (Chicago: Chicago Review Press, 2002, www.ipgbook .com) combines a history of the war with a variety of hands-on activities to make understanding the events of the war...

Ethan rates it ...
September 1, 2007... **** Panicking about how to come up with a World War II project your teacher just assigned? Well, www.teacher.scholastic.com/activities/wwii/is the site for you! If making a movie like Ken Burns is too hard for you, this Web site gives...

On the Web.(Digging Deeper)
September 1, 2007... www.bbc.co.uk/history/worldwars/ wwtwo/will take you to the British Broadcasting Company's (BBC) Web site devoted to a look at the "causes, events, and people" that were involved in "the most destructive war in history." Nearly every page also...

The National WWII Museum.(Places to Visit)
September 1, 2007... The National WWII Museum, New Orleans, Louisiana (www.nationalww2museum.org). Originally called the National D-Day Museum, this site opened on the 56th anniversary of D-Day, June 6, 2000. The museum helps visitors understand America's World War...

National WWII Memorial.(Places to Visit)
September 1, 2007... National WWII Memorial, Washington, D.C. (www.wwiimemorial.com/). Overseen by the National Park Service, the memorial is an outdoor monument to the 16 million Americans who served during World War II. It is a testimony to the sacrifice and...

Don't You Know There's a War On?(Brief article)(Children's review)(Book review)
September 1, 2007... Don't You Know There's a War On? by AVI (New York: HarperCollins, 2001, www.harper collins.com). Eleven-year-old Howie, like most American boys, loves to make mischief and play with his friends. World War II, however, complicates his life. His...

From the archives.
September 1, 2007... If you are into military history, Cobblestone Publishing has quite a selection of issues from which to choose. Several titles deal specifically with the conflict covered in this issue: WWII: Americans in Europe (COB9301), World War II:...

Jumping into history.(Flashback to ...)(Interview)
September 1, 2007... In September 1942, the U.S. Army was trying something new: training elite units to parachute into areas behind enemy lines. One of those parachute companies--E ("Easy") Company, 1st Battalion, 506th Parachute Infantry Regiment, 101st Airborne...

Brain ticklers.
September 1, 2007... Give your brain a little tickle to see how well you read and understood this issue on the experiences of Americans during World War II. If you believe the answer to be false, give yourself the ultimate test and see whether you can explain why...

A final word.
September 1, 2007... Does reading about ordinary Americans doing extraordinary things during World War II help make that event more real to you? Do you know anyone who can tell you about his or her personal experience during the war?

Cartoon connection with Ebenezer & the colonel.(Comic)(Cartoon)
September 1, 2007... By focusing on the experience of individuals, Ken Burns really makes history come alive! His films are so interesting. And very moving! Wouldn't it be cool to make a documentary about our neighborhood? Too bad it would COST about...

This is for the dogs!(Creature Feature)
September 1, 2007... During World War II, some American families volunteered their pets to be trained as messenger dogs and scouts. The animals' sense of smell made them valuable as guards that could warn their handlers of approaching enemies. Some dogs even were...