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The United States entered the Second World War following the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941.  The United States and Great Britain agreed on the need to defeat NAZI Germany before Japan.  U.S. military leaders favored an immediate invasion of Western Europe across the English Channel.  The British argued that Allied forces weren’t ready to land in Europe and instead proposed landing in North Africa.  Landing in North Africa would relieve pressure on the Soviets, secure shipping lanes, and give the Allies an opportunity to decisively defeat a large German force.  President Roosevelt agreed with the British and November 8, 1942 an Anglo-American force of over 100,000 troops landed on the beaches of Vichy-controlled Morocco and Algeria.  This was the first big move of America’s untested army.  Rick Atkinson tells the story in “An Army at Dawn: The War in North Africa, 1942-1943”.