The compilation of the historical record as it appears in the following pages was begun on December 7, 1941 and was finished three years, eight months,
and seven days later on August 14, 1945. As the bombs were falling on Pearl Harbor and as he (I) contemplated the dramatic impact of that "Day of Infamy" on the life of every human being, the author decided that it would be exceedingly interesting and perhaps valuable from an historical viewpoint, to record the course of the war as it unfolded chronologically in the life of one
American citizen. Accordingly, he (I) began compiling a daily record of the war as it was revealed through the mediums of newspapers, radio, and personal
experiences, a daily record that was kept faithfully despite numerous
obstacles ranging from eighty hours of grueling work each week during the early months of the war, to sickness and inertia. Many times the day's events were
entered in the written record at two o'clock in the morning after a hectic day at the office or in bed when the "flu" laid him (me) low. Needless to say, the task seemed endless-the war would never be over-and then, as dramatically and suddenly as it began, came the atomic bomb and V-J Day.
~ the author, Shelton Kenneth Peterson