The National Publishers Association orchestrated United We Stand Campaign basically hit the newsstands today as the country's weekly magazines all featured patriotic covers.
The country also engaged in the usual 4th of July festivities, such as this gathering in Saint Mary's County, Maryland. Having said that, the 4th was dampened both by the war, and by President Roosevelt's directive that fighting the war should be the focus of the day, rather than celebration.
War related tasks went on.
Closer to home, I don't know what occurred on this Saturday of 1942, other than that the day would have been observed somehow.
President Roosevelt had issued a desire to see U.S. forces in action on this day, if at all possible. As a result, the 15th Bombardment Squadron participated in a raid on the Netherlands, thereby making it the first US Air unit to bomb occupied territory in Europe. The low level daytime raid was conducted with British DB7 bombers (A-20s), with the American crewmen borrowing British aircraft.
The A-20 was the most produced attack bomber of the war, even though to a large degree its forgotten now. It served in multiple air forces, including the US, the British, and the Soviet air arms.
The American Volunteer Group, the "Flying Tigers", were converted from a mercenary bad serving Nationalist China in the war against Japan, to the China Air Task Force of the United States Army Air Corps. Almost all of the pilots chose to be released, however, so they could go on and return to their prewar service, or join the service, and fly elsewhere.
A debate between Hitler and General von Bock results in Von Bock prevailing in his desire to commit the 4th Panzer Army to an assault on Voronezh, but the infantry is sent south without support towards Stalingrad.
The gas chambers commenced operation at Auschwitz. This was in part a result of recent German battlefield successes, as the Germans had now taken in so many Eastern European Jews that they could not kill them efficiently enough.
Torpedo bombers harass Convoy PQ17 in the Barents Sea all day, sinking three of the cargo ships in the embattled convoy.
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