It was the end of summer and the beginning of autumn. Children were now going to school and everywhere on the island had become very busier than ever. But, despite the peace in America, the war was still ravanging on the other side of the globe. With America's help, new weapons were starting to be made and dispatched to Britain in order for them to bring the Nazis to their knees.
In due time, northern France was bombed by the Royal Air Force. And while German's forces shelled Leningrad with their tanks, they had failed to thwart Britain's mission, "Operation Gauntlet," which was allied with Canadian and Norwegian. However, Germany had allied with Finland and have begun to advance in East Kaleria.
September 5, 1941
In the backyards of Julian Ave, there is a small roadway called the Hickam Bike Path, which is used for people either riding on bikes or on walks, as long as they step out of the biker's way. On the path were Izetta and Fine, doing their early morning jog before going to work. They liked the fresh air and the sea air beside them as they jogged alongside the coast. The path ran past the park where the two watched the 4th of July fireworks the other night.
On their way, they ran into a woman at the same age as Izetta in front of them, holding a camera towards the bay in front of her, as if she was trying to take pictures at the harbor. This woman had pale skin, long white hair in a ponytail and crimson red eyes.
"Sorry if we're getting in the way," said Izetta politely. "We're only passing by."
"That's okay," replied the woman. "I was going to hold off until you passed anyway. Unless you two would like a photo together."
"Oh, that would be lovely," smiled Fine. "Can we have one with the harbor behind us?"
"That's a splendid idea!" chirped the woman.
So, Izetta and Fine stood in front of the bay with the harbor behind them with an arm over their shoulder, smiling as the woman aimed the camera and clicked the camera with a flash. Once the photo printed out of the camera, the woman pulled it out and waved it so the picture would dry before giving it to them.
"It's lovely," said Izetta.
"So, what's your name?" Fine asked the woman.
"Sophie Marshall," replied the woman. "And you two?"
"I'm Fine, and this is Izetta," Fine introduced. "Are you new here?"
"Yes, I'm a tourist," Sophie answered. "Just thought I'd look around and do some sight-seeing, taking pictures of the lovely bays of Hawaii, especially the harbor out there."
"Well, it is home to the Pacific Fleet," chuckled Izetta, rubbing the back of her head.
Suddenly, they were run into by a young girl at the age of 12 with brown hair in pigtails running in the opposite direction towards them in quite a hurry, almost knocking them over.
"Whoa there!" exclaimed Fine as she nearly fell over.
"Oops! Sorry, ma'am," apologized the girl.
"Where are you off to in such a hurry?" Fine asked.
"To Lunalilo School," the girl answered.
"But isn't school closed today?" asked Izetta, confused.
"Not for class," chuckled the girl. "I'm meeting with my friends there at the entrance so we could go play in the playground."
"Well, isn't that nice? Playing with your friends," smiled Fine. "I hope you have fun Miss...uhh-"
"Oh, forgive me, my name is Lotte," smiled the girl. "Nice to meet you!" she called before hurrying away.
"You be careful now!" Fine called back as she waved to her before looking back to Sophie. "Children, you just don't know how to control them."
"Some like her should just stick with their families more often," commented Sophie in agreement.
Then Izetta looked at her watch and gasped.
"We better hurry, Fine, or else we'll be late!" she exclaimed.
Fine nodded before turning to Sophie one last time.
"Well, it was nice meeting you, Sophie," said Fine as they started jogging again while Sophie waved to them.
"You as well!" Sophie called before resuming her picture-taking of the harbor. "Oh yes! I'm so loving all these pictures!"
Later, at the hospital, the nurses were at work, especially Izetta and Fine, but they hardly had any hurt people coming and were so far with other cases people were dealing with. Boring as it sounded, at least it wasn't on an emergency level, which meant they could relax a little.
On one of their little moments off, the nurses decided to listen to a little radio as Izetta was trying to get it to function properly by turning nobs and adjusting the antennae. Statics were all that could be heard.
"Will you get that stupid thing on already?!" asked Bianca impatiently. "I want to hear what's currently going on with the world."
"She's trying," barked Fine.
Bianca sighed exasperated.
"One day, I'm going to be promoted to working on a hospital ship as a nurse," she grumbled, "and no one is going to be giving me such a bore like somebody I should already know."
Finally, after a little moment of tinkering, the radio came on with a static. Soon after, they could hear the announcer speaking.
"Today, we are getting a word on the war between Britain and Germany from President Roosavelt."
Then they heard Roosavelt's voice on the radio.
"American labor now bears a tremendous responsibility in the winning of this most brutal, most terrible of all wars. In our factories and shops and arsenals we are building weapons on a scale great in its magnitude. To all the battle fronts of this world these weapons are being dispatched, by day and by night, over the seas and through the air. And this Nation is now devising and developing new weapons of unprecedented power toward the maintenance of democracy ... Our vast effort, and the unity of purpose that inspires that effort, are due solely to our recognition of the fact that our fundamental rights - including the rights of labor — are threatened by Hitler's violent attempt to rule the world."
The girls took a moment to take all of this in.
"Hm, I don't see what the big deal is," shrugged Bianca. "I mean, our country isn't exactly at war right now, is it? So, clearly, that doesn't make it our problem."
"You never know," said Fine with a serious tone. "One day, this country might. So, you might want to get ready when the time comes."
"Except it hasn't come yet, has it?" asked Bianca. "Who knows? Maybe it never will."
But Fine didn't feel so sure. Just then, they could hear their head nurse coming in.
"Heads up, girls!" Gertrude called out. "We've got a sailor with a bruised face! Would anyone volunteer to take a look at it?"
"I would!" Izetta called, raising her hand, before hurrying over.
"Show off!" mumbled Bianca as she watched Izetta go.
In the ward sat an African American in a sailor uniform with a bruised face and a black eye. Izetta wasted no time in getting to work as she examined his face thoroughly from top to bottom.
As she looked at him, a memory from the concentration camp flashed into her when she kept getting bruised by the officers of the camp. She silently gasped at the shocking image before shaking her head to get the thought out of her head and resuming her work. It was lucky for her the patient wasn't facing her, so he wasn't able to notice.
"How did you get all this, Mr. Miller?" Izetta asked the man.
"Please, just Dorie is fine," smiled the man. "Anyway, I was in a boxing tournament on the deck of the West Virginia."
"How did it go?" she asked as she dabbed the wounds with cotton.
"I won," Dorie smiled again. "I've earned the respect of my shipmates and the rest of the crew."
"Who were you playing against?" Izetta asked with curiosity.
"A man from the Arizona. But he was no problem, what with me being the ships heavyweight champion and all." he added proudly, earning a smile from Izetta as she continued working on the injuries on his face until she heard a sigh. "And honestly, while I am happy with the respect I was given, I just want to matter like a real navy man."
"Why is that?" Izetta asked with concern.
"I only enlisted so I could fight for my country and for my family," he said solemly. "I may not have been accepted for the CCC. But I hoped I would be a real sailor and fight for my family when I got into the navy, but instead they put me as a third class cook. They wouldn't even let me near one of those guns."
Somehow, by hearing those words, she Izetta could deep down understand what he was going through, not being seen as somebody they want to be known and being looked down upon. But she knew what she had gone through was much worse than he did as she could remember all the things the Nazis all say about her. She tried her best not to be sad and gave a kind smile as she worked. "Maybe one day, the time will come," Izetta reassured. "Just don't give up, okay? I'm sure there will be a chance for you to prove to them you can be what you wish to be."
Dorie smiled again and slightly nodded.
"I know I won't give up," Izetta thought to herself as she worked. "I don't care if I'm a jew, I don't care how many people may say bad of me, I'll never stop being who I am."
When she had finished, the doctor took a look at Dorie and was impressed by how Izetta was able to patch him up with the smaller injuries dabbed while only one bigger one just needed a stitch. He couldn't see a single flaw in her work. He made some "Mmhms" and nods for each part she accomplished.
"Nice work, Izetta," he praised. "You seem to have quite a knack for this."
"Oh, well, it was nothing," Izetta said, rubbing the back of her head. "I guess I really try hard and do the best that I can."
"Well, it's playing off," the doctor answered with a smile. "You really are a good person."
Hearing this made Izetta smile. She was beginning to forget all the terrible things the concentration camp had told her.
From behind the ward, Fine was standing behind the doorway, smiling at what she was hearing. She knew how hard Izetta worked and wanted to make everyone proud. And now, it seemed all that was starting to pay off. There were definitely some points coming in on this one and she knew it.
After their shift had ended, the nurses went to see a movie at the cinema downtown, where they saw "Citizen Kane." When it was over, they all came out, talking about the film.
"I swear! How does a guy just do two things at once, acting in his own film he was directing" asked Bianca.
"Who cares? I still think Orson Welles should get an award for his talents," replied Evira.
"Just him?" Bianca asked, surprised. "I think the whole film should get an award. Maybe an Oscar!"
"I agree," Fine added while Izetta nodded before frowning.
"I just wish they hadn't shown that news-reel on Pavoloch before the movie showed," Izetta spoke up sadly.
"Oh, give it a rest," sighed Bianca. "That's only two thousand less the count Ponary had just three days ago."
"Bianca!" scolded Fine. "Don't you have any respect? They were Jewish people after all."
"I don't disrespect them," Bianca defended firmly. "All I'm saying is everything will be fine. I'm sure there's still over millions out there."
"Are you sure?" asked Izetta. "I've already heard of this new gas their using to poison them. They call it Zyklon B! I still shudder at the thought of them being affected by it!"
"How exactly does that make it worse than others?" asked Bianca with a shrug.
"Because they experimented it on over eight hundred people, and it worked!" snapped Izetta. "And some of them were sick too!"
Hearing this, Bianca squirmed and hoped she didn't. The thought of Nazis using it on people who were ill was tormenting enough. But she could see that it was torming Izetta too on the inside.
"Those people did nothing wrong," Izetta murmured solemly. "I know there is no way those people are evil. I won't believe that, I just won't!"
Just looking at Izetta now made it impossible for Bianca to look in her way and just turned away from her before giving a few words.
"It's lucky for you I don't see it that way either." she said in a sincere tone before walking away.
"Uhh, I'll catch you guys later," said Evira before hurrying after Bianca, leaving Izetta and Fine alone.
Fine looked over at a stunned Izetta beside her, watching as the two other nurses left until she touched her shoulder in comfort.
"Are you okay?" asked Fine.
Izetta nodded.
"I'm fine," she answered quietly. "Shall we go home?"
Fine nodded in reply and the two friends walked away together.
Meanwhile, the Imperial Japanese Navy were going through heavy training for the attack on Pearl Harbor, led by Captain Minoru Genda. While this was going on, Genda showed Yamamoto a strategy to strike at Pearl Harbor with more than just bombs.
"As we all know," said Genda, "the bays of Pearl Harbor are too shallow for any submarine attacks, let alone any method of torpedo attacks. Which is why I propose we use one of these."
Genda showed Yamamoto what looks like a wooden rudder.
"By using these wooden fins," Genda added before pointing at the drawing board, "the torpedoes can rise quickly and keep steady after our planes drop them into the water."
Yamamoto looked interested by looking at the designs, he put a finger to his chin.
"I'd like to see a demonstration," suggested Yamamoto.
"I'm afraid we don't have any decommissioned ships, admiral," replied Genda.
"That's okay," said Yamamoto. "We'll just test it on a dummy torpedo instead."
So, it was arranged, and the men placed one of the fins on a dummy torpedo before loading into a launcher, pointing directly at one of the ships moored across the shallow water from where they were. The crew onboard were notified about the test and stood on ready. Yamamoto watched as preparations were complete, then he waited to see what would happen.
"Ready?" called Genda to his men on the launcher's control before giving the signal. "FIRE!"
The torpedo was launched over the quay and splashed into the water a few degrees down head-first. Once it submerged, the fin jolted upwards and curved the torpedo up easily until it ran straight at level towards the ship.
Yamamoto watched as the torpedo zipped across the water until it reached the ship on the other side while the crew onboard stepped back.
KABOOM!
Luckly, since the torpedo was a dummy, there was no damage to the ship and there were also no injuries to the crew on the ship either as they all held tightly to the railings on the other side. The men on the shore clapped and cheered with their successful test and Yamamoto smiled at how well the fin did before turning to Genda.
"Well done, Genda. They'll do," he said as he shook his hand. "Please, be sure to have all our torpedoes fitted with them at once while I'm gone for our second attempt at Changsha."
"By using bombs, gunfire, and controlled torpedoes, we will destroy the entire Pacific fleet and their defenses," added Yamamoto with a smirk. "We will have them all crumbling to the ground!"
Author's Note: I originally intended to post the attack on this exact day on the anniversary, but work had kept holding me back, sorry for the delay. But I promise I will make my way to it as soon as I can in the future.
(Respect to all those who died on that tragic attack on Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941.)