World War II: The Tide Starts to Turn (Vincent V., Grade 3

Workers

There are many workers. There is the equipment manager. He or she gives out the drinks to the players. They also hand out towels for the players. Now, if you are getting bored, I am sorry, there are just so many people you need in the NBA! The support staff is a very important job. They pack the jerseys which are what the players wear, the towels, and the drinking bottles if the team is at an away game. So he or she puts it all in the truck that drives to the stadium early. They do not do that is the team is play at their own stadium. The last support staff job you are going to learn about is an important one. The janitor! Before you go off thinking this is boring, they are very important. Not only do they clean the floor, they also mopit when a player falls. They do this because the player’s sweat gets the floor wet so they dry it off so nobody slips.

Fans

These people you do not need need, but people like it when they are watching the game. These millions of people are called fans! They watch the game. The fans can buy souvenirs from the gift shop or buy drinks like soda or food like popcorn. They can be cheering for a team, or there for entertainment or both. You can be a fan too! You can get a giant foam hand or clothes. Those things are souvenirs too. You can even get a basketball! Fans can get autographs from players. If you don’t make it to the NBA, there are still a lot of jobs that you can do. Just remember that it takes a lot more people than just five players on the court to make the NBA possible. Good luck!

World War II: Tide Starts to Turn By Vincent V., Grade 3

On December 7, 1941 the Japanese launched a surprise attack on American ships docked in Pearl Harbor. The ships were moved from California to Pearl Harbor. My grandfather, Larry Varnell, arrived at Pearl Harbor in February of 1942. The code words for this major attack on the U.S Navy was Tora, Tora, Tora. On December 7, 1941 in the morning, two waves of Japanese planes bombed and torpedoed the ships docked at Pearl Harbor. American planes were also attacked so they would not shoot Japanese planes down. The biggest ship sunk was the U.S.S. Arizona and 1,100 sailors were killed. The Japanese also attacked the U.S.S. Virginia. Altogether the Japanese sank nineteen U.S ships and two thousand forty three U.S sailors were killed. This enraged the United States into joining the war. After this the tide would start to turn. In 1943, the Americans main focus was on the island, Midway because the Japanese had captured many islands so the Americans were hoping to stop the Japanese advance. The Americans captured Midway which was their first victory of the war in the Pacific. The Japanese had lost four aircraft carriers, 248 planes, and three thousand sailors. They then came up with the idea of island hopping to mainland Japan. Tarawa was an island heavily defended by Japanese fortifications which were so tough that the Japanese bragged that it would take one million men one hundred years to capture the island. U.S. Marines tested that theory though. LVTs brought U.S. marines to Tarawa after breaking