The attack on Pearl Harbor

The attack on Pearl Harbor is a historical turning point in the novel’s background: it marks the start of the wartime circumstances that draw Aidan toward conscription and bring Ben an opportunity to join the mountain troops. The attack itself is not staged; its significance emerges through the changes in military service and family life that follow.

Wartime Context

Fifteen months after the attack, Aidan was drafted into the Army. Three days before leaving, he packed his bag and asked for one last ride in the Colockum Country with Ben. Their dawn departure, crossing the river at Coleman’s Landing and riding through the day, gives the broad historical change a personal measure: military mobilization arrives in the middle of a life shaped by horses, hunting, and the family orchard.

Expansion of the Mountain Troops

A letter Ben received in May from Willard Anderson, president of the Leavenworth Ski Club, placed the attack in the history of the Army’s mountain forces. Anderson wrote that the 87th Mountain Infantry Regiment had been activated at Fort Lewis the day after the attack. After training on the slopes of Mt. Rainier and other advances, it was followed by the 10th Mountain Division, then recruiting with help from the National Ski Patrol. Anderson urged young men drawn to high country to join; he presented voluntary service as a way to meet the war on terms suited to their experience, rather than simply going wherever the draft sent them.

Consequences for the Givens Family

The attack’s effects reach the family through different forms of departure. Aidan faces a draft; Ben is invited to choose a specialized military path. Ben’s father supports the mountain-troop option if Ben must serve, yet tells him he wishes he would stay because he needs him. The historical event therefore functions less as a battle scene than as pressure on an intimate household: war expands the Army, redirects the sons’ futures, and makes the possibility of separation immediate.