Fourth Grade
Worksheets
The Radar Readers
I will never forget December 7, 1941. What a horrific day! I was a private in the U.S. Army. I had an important job. I studied the radar screen and tracked American airplanes as they were flying. I was also on the lookout for enemy planes. I helped to protect our airspace. My shift was almost up that Sunday morning. I daydreamed about all that I could do with the rest of my day. I was lucky to be stationed in Hawaii. Not all soldiers had the luxury of spending a day off at the beach. That particular day I decided that the ocean was calling my name. A little fun in the sun was just what I needed to unwind and relax.
My fellow soldier and I packed up and prepared to leave the mobile radar station where we were working. I was moments away from being off duty. That's when I saw it. A huge blip appeared on the radar screen. It was a large group of airplanes. They were only 130 miles away from Oahu, and they were approaching the island quickly. I looked at the other private who was working with me. His eyes reflected my fear. We had to report this sighting. He grabbed the phone and tried to place the call, but there was no signal. He tried over and over again. Eventually, the call went through. We reached the lieutenant on duty and told him what we had seen. The lieutenant believed that the radar had picked up a flight of U.S. B-17 Flying Fortress bombers heading from California to Hawaii. For security reasons, he could not tell this to the radar operators. All he .....
