CHAPTER
11
WORLD WAR II AND THE HOME FRONT,
1941-1945 l \ s county residents turned the pages of their calendars at the beginning of December 1941, the United States was slowly emerging from the Great Depression that had crippled the county for nearly a decade. For the first time in years, most people had enough food on their tables and some change to jingle in their pockets. Despite the signs of economic recovery, however, Americans had good reason to be concerned about the future. For three years, the United States had been able to remain out of the war that was sweeping across Europe. Now, however, in its ninth year under the leadership of President Franklin D. Roosevelt, the U.S. found itself drawn ever closer to the European conflict and into a confrontation with Lapan in the Pacific as well. In 1940 Congress had enacted the Selective Service and Training Act that saw more than 16 million American men between the ages of twenty-one and thirty-six register for military service, including residents of Utah County. A small National Guard unit in Pleasant Grove was inducted into service on 3 March 1941. 1 O n e of the inductees, lack Cook, noted: "I was inducted to federal service as 234
