From the Annals of Fascism –  In 1941, Germany declared war on the U.S.  The U.S. had been officially neutral in the European conflict until that point, but the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor changed everything.  Adolf Hitler had an oral agreement with Japan that Germany would join a war against the United States, but the sneak attack surprised even him. On December 8, Japanese Ambassador Oshima met with German Foreign Minister von Ribbentrop to secure Germany’s agreement to declare war against the U.S. Germany and Japan were parties to the Axis Power’s  Tripartite Pact, which promised help if Japan was attacked.  But here Japan was the aggressor and Germany was not obligated to assist. Von Ribbentrop rightly calculated that the entry of the U.S. into the European Theater would assure a German defeat.

Hitler had other ideas and was convinced that a declaration of war from the U.S. was imminent.  A low grade war in the Atlantic was already underway with the U.S. Navy attacking German U-boats.  Hitler also miscalculated the ability of Japan to win the Pacific War believing that it would defeat the U.S. and then attack Russia from the east.  A delusional Hitler ordered the German charge d’affaires in Washington to deliver a declaration of war to American Secretary of State Cordell Hull.

In his address to the Reichstag to defend the declaration, Hitler was at his odious best claiming that the failure of New Deal was the real cause of the war and that Roosevelt, supported by plutocrats and Jews, were attempting to divert attention from America’s economic troubles. “First he incites war, then falsifies the causes, then odiously wraps himself in a cloak of Christian hypocrisy and slowly but surely leads mankind to war,” declared Hitler.  The members of the Reichstag leaped to their feet in thunderous applause. One can only hope that they all died miserable and painful deaths.

By the end of the war some 750,000 Texans, including 12,000 women, served in the armed forces. Most served in the Army or the Army Air Force, but nearly one-fourth served in the navy, marines, or the coast guard. During the war 22,022 Texans were killed or died of wounds. One-third of these fatalities were in the navy, marines, or coast guard.

Image from http://www.ihffilm.com