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The article presents a tale about the first retaliatory blow struck by the American Navy after Pearl Harbor. On board the American destroyer U.S.S. Boon, hovering outside the Golden Gate, there was little enough thought devoted to the fact that this was history. They were home again after a year of duty. Officers and enlisted men could barely contain their impatience while the Boon circled in the darkening haze, keeping guard to seaward as the three transports she had escorted from Honolulu made their dilatory way in through the novel harbor defenses across the twilit yet still invisible Gate.

The article presents the origin of the service flags of the which hang in many homes and organizations in the U.S. It is said that the banner was designed by Captain Robert L. Queisser who served in the Fifth Ohio Infantry from 1914 to 1916. When his two sons was enlisted in the service he reflected on designing a visible sign of the sacrifices of his sons for his wife to see and for all mothers whose sons or daughters were in the service. The flag had been formally adopted by the city of Cleveland in June 1917 and was spreading rapidly over the country.