In March 1942, the people of the United States were transitioning from life in a free and open society to one in a nation fighting a total war. Newspapers were filled with stories about the coming of rationing of sugar and tires, but most of all of gasoline. One of the reasons gasoline supplies were running low was because of the damage being done by U-boats to tankers off the East Coast.
The government talked of dimming the lights of shore communities to protect the tankers from being silhouetted.
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