Shock then resolve after the attack on Pearl Harbor: ‘We’ll whip ’em, but it’ll take a few months.’

Crowds in Chicago’s Loop took the news of Pearl Harbor with excited confidence, reported the Tribune on Dec. 8, 1941. “We’ll whip ’em in two weeks,” prophesied a Notre Dame junior. “Don’t be silly,” said another man. “We’ll whip them, but it’ll take a few months to do it.” (Chicago Tribune)