ORLEANS, Mass. (AP) — A century ago Saturday, the shore of Orleans, Massachusetts, was shelled by a German submarine, making the Cape Cod town the only place on U.S. soil to receive enemy gunfire during World War I.
For a brief moment on July 21, 1918, "over there" had become "over here."
It's still a mystery why the Germans so brazenly attacked a target that held little value beyond instilling fear in the American public.
The shelling of Orleans' shoreline was the first attack on U.S. soil in 100 years.
Witnesses, long dead, described the drama in recordings. Ruben Hopkins, then a 22-year-old guard at an Orleans lifesaving station, recalled leaping from his bunk "in seconds flat" when the shelling began.
A commemoration is planned for Saturday afternoon on Orleans' Nauset Beach to mark the 100th anniversary.
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