Walter Reinhardt was a university student when Japanese naval aircraft bombed Pearl Harbor on Dec. 7, 1941. Like a number of other young American men in the weeks afterwards, Reinhardt decided to enlist in the armed forces.
“It was the thing to do,” he said, when asked why.
He was originally planning on enlisting in the Navy, but the Navy recruiter’s office was closed the day he showed up. The Army recruiter was open for business that day, so he enlisted there.