Linda K's Pearl Harbor Page

It has been more than sixty years since the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor, catapulting the United States into World War II. For decades thereafter, people remembered Pearl Harbor with the same fervor Texans say, “Remember the Alamo!” Yet the passage of time has a tendency to dim the memory of the shock and the horror. Pearl Harbor is becoming nothing more than a fact in a history book for many Americans. The memory of that December morning should never be allowed to fade. It should remain in our hearts and minds forever -- not to perpetuate hatred toward any nation, but so that the lessons of Pearl Harbor can prevent a similar situation in the future. As Goldstein and Dillon point out in Gordon Prange’s “Dec. 7, 1941, “appalling damage can result from underestimating a potential enemy, misdirection of attention, improper use of intelligence, and failure to take seriously our own Headquarters studies...” In short, “Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it.”

Setting the Stage

World War II began on September 1, 1939, when Germany invaded Poland. Great Britain and France, as allies of Poland, entered the fight two days later. While Franklin D. Roosevelt did invoke the Neutrality Acts of 1935-37, the President did not attempt to convince Americans to remain neutral in their minds. As he stated, “Even a neutral cannot be asked to close his mind or his conscience.”

Germany continued to advance until they had conquered most of Europe. Across the Atlantic, President Roosevelt continued finding ways to aid the Allies without directly involving the United States in the war. He used the “cash and carry” and lend-lease programs to help supply the Allies.

While the Germans were conquering Europe, Japan began its machinations toward becoming a world power. They set out to conquer China, Southeast Asia, and the Western Pacific. The United States’ response in 1939 was to end the United States/Japan 1911 Treaty of Trade and Navigation. In early 1940, Roosevelt banned the sale of aviation fuel and scrap metal to Japan. When Germany, Italy, and Japan became Allies by signing the Tripartie Pact in September of 1940, Roosevelt expanded the embargo to include steel and other metals. With each Japanese victory in Southeast Asia, the President added more items to the embargo in a vain attempt to stem the tide and stop the Japanese momentum. Relations between the United States and Japan became more tense with each passing day.

Finally, in July of 1941, Japanese Prime Minister Hideki Togo set a deadline of the first week of December for a resolution of the crisis. If trade relations did not resume by then, Japan would take the offensive. Warnings of possible military action were sent from Washington to bases throughout the Pacific. Unfortunately, most of the so-called experts believed that any attack would occur around the Philippine Islands. Apparently, no one in Washington could yet comprehend the sheer audacity of a plan to attack the United States Pacific Fleet close to the mainland. It was to be a fatal miscalculation.

The Pre-Dawn Hours of the “Date That Will Live in Infamy”

All was quiet in the early morning hours of December 7, 1941. Many of the servicemen had been out late the night before --going to dinner with friends and loved ones, Christmas shopping for families back home, or cheering their shipmates in a band competition. “The Battle of Music” was held in the Navy’s new recreation center to decide which ship had the best band in the fleet. Although the band from the Pennsylvania won the competition, there were may people who felt that the Arizona had the superior band.

Nearly 100 ships were in Pearl Harbor that fateful morning. Seven battleships were on Battleship Row. An eighth battleship, the Pennsylvania, was in dry dock number one.

The destroyer, Ward, was on entrance channel patrol. At 0357, the Ward had received word from the minesweeper Condor that a submerged submarine had been sighted heading toward Pearl Harbor. Neither ship had any way of knowing that this was one of the new Japanese “midget submarines” on its way to help in the destruction of the Pacific Fleet. By 0408, the Ward was on General Quarters and searching the approximate area of the sighting. After searching for nearly an hour, the Ward gave up. Both ships decided that the identification of the sighting as a submerged submarine must have been a mistake.

At 0630, the supply ship Antares was on her way into Pearl Harbor when she sighted a suspicious object in the ocean. A message was sent to the Ward, requesting that the object be investigated. The Ward sighted the object seven minutes later, and determined that it was an unfriendly intruder. By 0640, the Ward was again at General Quarters. At 0645, she began firing on the submarine. Although the crew of the Ward was convinced that they had sunk an enemy submarine, neither they nor any of the officers who received notification of the incident realized the significance of the submarine’s presence.

Heroes of the Harbor

When the first Japanese planes appeared over Pearl Harbor, many people initially thought they were American fighters. When the bombs began dropping around 0755, people living near the harbor and hearing the explosions assumed that military exercises were underway again. In Pearl Harbor itself, the truth became clear very quickly.

Each area being hit had its heroes. On the Nevada and other ships in the harbor, bands were waiting for 0800 to play morning colors when the bombing began. Many of the men began diving for cover. As the Nevada’s band began playing the National Anthem, a Japanese plane flew across the harbor and dropped a torpedo on the Arizona. As the plane lifted out of its dive, it went right over the Nevada. The rear gunner fired on the Nevada’s band, but succeeded only in shredding the flag. The band members courageously stood their ground and refused to seek shelter until they had finished playing the National Anthem.

Captain Bennion of the West Virginia was one of the men mortally wounded in the first wave of the attack. One of the men who helped carry him to the bridge of his crippled ship was Mess Attendant Doris Miller. Because of his large size, Miller was next recruited to help pass ammunition to two men operating machine guns. The next thing anyone knew, Miller was manning one of the machine guns himself, firing away at anything that came within his line of sight. Ensign Delano of the West Virginia later said it was the only time he had seen Miller smile, with the exception of the day he had won the West Virginia’s heavyweight boxing title. Doris Miller’s actions on December 7, 1941, led to his being the first black man to receive the Navy Cross.

On the California, Machinist’s Mate Robert Scott refused to leave his post in the air compressor station, where he was feeding air to the five-inch guns. As water poured into the wounded California, flooding his station, many of his shipmates fled for their lives. They asked Scott to join them because they had to close the watertight door. Scott stayed, telling them, “This is my station---I’ll stay here and give them air as long as the guns are going.”

When the Utah went down, Fireman John Vaesser remained in the dynamo room, determined to keep power available to his shipmates until the last possible second. Chief Watertender Peter Tomich died because he stayed in the boiler room to be sure that all of his men got out in time.

At Hickam Army Air Field, a bomb blew open the guardhouse. Rather than fleeing, the prisoners ran to volunteer their services as gunners. At other military airfields across the island, prisoners released from the guardhouses to run for safety chose to stay and fight with their units.

All over Pearl Harbor, every man who could reach a weapon scrambled to defend the ships against the Japanese onslaught. Seamen on the Maryland, the Tucker, the Helena, the Tautog, and the Nevada all grabbed weapons and began firing back at their attackers. One of the seamen on the Nevada proved that he was not (as had previously been thought) a less than useful member of the crew when he climbed into the Nevada’s “bird bath” and winged a plane headed his way with a .30-caliber machine gun.

Destruction and devastation were soon all around Pearl Harbor and the island of Oahu. The Okalahoma was in one of the more exposed positions on Battleship Row. She took five torpedoes almost immediately after the attack began. Within eight minutes after the first torpedo hit, the Oklahoma was dead in the water.

Almost immediately after the destruction of the Oklahoma, the Japanese scored their most crushing blow when a bomb apparently crashed into the forward magazines of the Arizona. The resulting cloud of fire and smoke shot 500 feet into the air. The concussion from the blast was so great that it knocked men off of their ships all over the harbor. It even caused Japanese Commander Fuchida’s bomber to tremble in the air. Over 1000 men lost their lives in the blink of an eye.

In all, 2,341 service members and 54 civilians lost their lives at Pearl Harbor. Of the service members killed, 1,102 were aboard the Arizona. Another 1,143 service members were wounded, along with 35 civilians. Twelve ships were sunk or beached, and nine others were damaged. All of the ships were salvaged and saw action later in World War II, with the exception of the Arizona.

Remember Pearl Harbor!

Perhaps one of the most unbelievable facts about Pearl Harbor is that the United States suffered such devastating losses while technically not at war. Japan never formally declared war on the United States. On December 8, 1941, before a joint session of Congress, President Roosevelt delivered a short concise message that took less than six minutes to accomplish three things:

1) It stated (and Congress approved) that a state of war now existed between the United States and Japan. Because of the wording in the speech, Congress did not even have to decide whether or not to declare war. Roosevelt’s speech used the phrase “since the unprovoked attack....... a state of war has existed.”

2) It clearly stated the outrage and loss felt by the American people.

3) It gave birth to the most famous phrase ever uttered by an American President -- “Yesterday, December 7, 1941 - a date which will live in infamy - The United States was suddenly and deliberately attacked by the naval and air forces of Japan.”

Just as the United States has always stood for freedom and democracy, so the deaths of United States citizens, particularly its military men and women, must always be remembered so that their sacrifices will not have been in vain. Every man and woman who joins the Armed Forces knows the inherent danger in their choice, yet they are willing to take that risk to keep this nation safe and free. Can we, as Americans, do anything less than to always honor the memory of these brave souls who died that we may live our lives in freedom?

PEARL HARBOR LINKS

Pearl Harbor Remembered This site contains a virtual tour of the Arizona Memorial, maps, timelines, survivors' remembrances, and more.

National Geographic: Remembering Pearl Harbor An excellent and extensive guide to the attack.

USS Arizona and Pearl Harbor Remembered This is one of the best sites I've seen for information, links, photos, and more of that fateful day.

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This page was last updated on: August 11, 2004