There was the Eagle squadron during the Battle of Britain, and was made up almost exclusively of non-British pilots, mostly American. All of the pilots and crew were volunteer, and flew a mix of early Spitfire fighters, P-51A Mustangs (the P-51D is the model made famous later in the war after it received a new engine) and Typhoon fighters.
Late in 1939, President Roosevelt authorized the attack on any German forces that displayed aggression towards American shipping, and in fact, a destroyer escort was unsuccesfully attacked by a U-boat, it turned around and sunk said U-boat.
There was also the Lend-Lease act, which allowed America to send war supplies to the Soviet Union and Great Britain. Many of the aircraft used in the Battle of Britain were manufactured in the United States and then assembled after they crossed the pond.
And lastly, there was the AVG, American Volunteer Group, more commonly known as the Flying Tigers. This was a group of American pilots flying out of bases in Burma (now Thailand, Cambodia and Laos) and Southern China against the Japanese Army. The Flying Tigers were known for their P-40B Warhawks that had a shark's grin painted on the intake.
2006-12-01 05:40:02
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answer #1
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answered by The_moondog 4
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The bombing of Pearl Harbor caused US to declare war. However we had been fighting the Germans and Japanese for several months before. We fought the Japanese by using and supplying such groups as the flying tigers and putting an embargo on all war material to japan. We were fighting the Germans through the enforcement of a neutral zone for all ships in the western Atlantic and this came to a head when one destroyers was damaged and another sunk while attacking U-Boats in the western Atlantic this did work however as Hitler ordered the U-Boats out of the western Atlantic so as not to provoke a war with the US.
2006-12-01 06:09:46
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answer #2
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answered by brian L 6
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No. We were not actively involved in World War II until the Japanese Attacked Pearl Harbor, although we were sending war materials to Britain and The Soviet Union (Russia) through the Lend-Lease program.
Even after the Pearl Harbor attack we were still not at war with Germany until December 11 when Hitler declared war on the U.S. in the hopes that Japan would in turn delclare war on the Soviet Union and also to stem the tide of materials being sent to Britain.
Interestingly, although Germany attacked nearly every country in Europe, the United States was the only country against which Hitler actually declared war.
2006-12-01 05:51:37
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answer #3
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answered by TexBW 2
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The US was gearing towards war, but the bombing of Pearl sent us the message that we could no longer stand aside while the rest of the world battled between Democracy and Fascism.
2006-12-01 07:25:32
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answer #4
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answered by hockeytwn09 3
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From the standpoint of history:
Japan Attacked Pearl Harbor
The US declared war on Japan
Germany as an ally of Japan declared war on the US.
The US declared war on Germany
2006-12-01 06:04:37
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answer #5
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answered by Jeff H 5
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Prior to Pearl Harbor we were allowing volunteers to fight go overseas and fight under brittish comanders. We were also providing economic and military aid to the allies side of the house as well.
2006-12-01 05:35:29
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answer #6
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answered by promethius9594 6
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Not troops (and Hitler's subsequent declaration of war on the U.S. is another of the big puzzlers), but the Navy had been sharing convoy duty and had had a few exchanges with the U boats.
2006-12-01 05:58:31
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answer #7
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answered by Anonymous
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I believe that the Americans had been preparing to go to war (ie. they did the drafts and training etc.) However they remained neutral in the war until the bombing of Pearl Harbour.
2006-12-01 05:34:34
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answer #8
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answered by flycreature 2
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Pappy Boington fought the Japanese in China before the war started. He was one of the first aces in the war.
2006-12-01 06:00:35
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answer #9
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answered by Anonymous
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