PHOTO: Japanese Soliders Prepare to Land - January 1942
America Stepping into War is a continuous article detailing the day-to-day events leading to WWII and of the days of WWII.
By: Dr. Zo L. Simmons
January 1, 1942
U.S. Troops Ring Manila.
The brigade boarded a train at Petersburg and departed for North Carolina. We stopped at Goldsboro and made camp just north of the town. Here, we witnessed the execution of three deserters. From Goldsboro, we went to Kinston on the Neuse River. We proceeded down the Neuse to New Berne, which was occupied by the Yankees.
There was some discontent among the troops when they learned they would be receiving old flintlock muskets instead of Mississippi Rifles. I told my comrades that it was their duty to defend their home state even if they were armed with nothing but "rocks and sticks," and called each man willing to fight under present circumstances to follow me.