Chapter 3 Summary

Roosevelt had to make a difficult decision: should he give military aid to the British and help them hold on against the Germans, or should he build up America's military? Military leaders at home were in favor of rearming the United States. Most believed that the situation was hopeless. France and England would both eventually fall to the Germans. The President was betting on the British. If he were wrong, all the American equipment sent to help them would be lost to the Germans.

On May 24, the Germans were only a few miles from Dunkirk. For some strange reason, Hitler declared a three-day vacation. This gave the allies enough time to produce "the miracle of Dunkirk." About 340,000 men escaped to England on every kind of boat imaginable, including yachts and lifeboats. This gave the allies new hope and bolstered Roosevelt's argument for America...