ABSTRACT
PACIFIC THEATER OF OPERATIONS (PTO) The war began and ended in the Pacifi c, even though it was Europe that drew most attention in the years just prior to American involvement. While the public focused on Hitler’s quelling of every European nation except Britain, Japan was planning its December 7, 1941, attack on Hawaii’s Pearl Harbor. That loss was devastating, as along with some twenty-four hundred fatalities, it wiped out large portions of the naval fl eet. Because of the lack of ships, the United States was forced to focus on the ground war in North Africa, while women helped build new vessels for the Pacifi c fi ght.
