War

15 Aug 1945 – WWII gasoline rationing in America ended on this day. Rationing was just one of the special measures taken in our country during wartime. Civilian auto production virtually ceased after the attack on Pearl Harbor, as the US automotive industry turned to war production. Automotive firms made almost $29 billion worth of military materials between 1940 and 1945, including jeeps, trucks, machine guns, carbines, tanks, helmets, and aerial bombs. Rationing ended when the war did. The difference between that war and our current war is that our whole nation was at war then—we even had a draft. Today, our nation is not at war. One might say that our military is at war, our nation is at the mall, and Washington is at lunch. Let’s not send our troops off to war again unless the whole nation goes to war.