As Pearl Harbor ships smoldered, National Guard began fighting World War II

By National Guard Bureau Historical Services December 6, 2016



In terms of readiness for a war, the National Guard in December, 1941, was a bellwether of the country and its citizens. After the German invasion of Poland in 1939, President Franklin Roosevelt had declared a state of national emergency to begin preparing for American involvement in what was increasingly becoming a global war. As part of this peacetime emergency measure, the entire National Guard, over 300,000 Soldiers, was ordered into federal service, with some units mobilized as early as September, 1940.

So when the Japanese attack came and war was suddenly inevitable, Guardsmen were training in ground and air units all across the country. Moreover, because United States territories overseas were in desperate need of reinforcement, National Guard units had been deployed to augment the defenses of both the Hawaiian and Philippine Islands well before December 7. Guardsman were consequently in the thick of the fray during both attacks, claiming both the first Japanese prisoner of war at Pearl Harbor, by the 298th Infantry from Hawaii, and the first Japanese plane shot down in the Philippines, by the 200th Coast Artillery from New Mexico.




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