Two days into what just became World War II, the only source of information about Guam was Radio Tokyo, not a particularly reliable one. In fact, that was largely the situation for other American military interests in the Pacific, little known to most Americans outside of those with Naval or ocean shipping connections.
As President Roosevelt signed the fateful war document on page one, the New York Times did the best it could with very sparse information on page 12.
The Chicago Tribune had no more information than anyone else, but did its best with a real big headline. And of course, as always, plenty of critics were available to weigh in on the conduct of the war from the start.
As many Americans rushed to enlist, it was rapidly dawning on every one of them that life was shortly going to be quite different.
