This is the first episode of the PBS WWII series by Ken Burns and Lynn Novick. In this series they introduce us to four communities, Sacramento, California; Mobile, Alabama; Waterbury, Connecticut; and Luverne, Minnesota. We see life in the United States during the first part of the war, before the U.S. involvement. The war started in 1939, and the U.S. became involved in 1941. The show does a very good representation of Pearl Harbor and the reaction around the county. It gives individual accounts on why people enlisted, or how they were drafted. This first episode documents in internment of over 100,000 Japanese Americans. It points out that early in 1942, the Axis were in control. The U.S. were defeated in the Philippines with the surrender of 85,000 men in the Bataan Peninsula. This is the most Americans ever surrendered in one event. However by the end the Allies had gained their first victory in the Pacific at Midway; and were on Guadalcanal and repelling all efforts to oust them. They would hold the island.
I really enjoy this series so far because it relies on actual footage, and interview with people who were there; and not on reenactment.
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