Remembering the 70th Anniversary of Pearl Harbor

Today, December 7, 2011 is the 70th anniversary of the bombing of Pearl Harbor and America’s entrance into what came to be known as World War II on the very next day.

Pearl Harbor was one of the largest and best sheltered bases in the world. It is formed by two mouths of the narrow Pearl Stream and occupies about ten square miles of navigable water. Its name comes from the pearl oysters that once grew there.

The Japanese made a surprise attack on the United States Navy base at Pearl Harbor and on Oahu in the Hawaiian Islands on an early Sunday morning, December 7, 1941. The attack destroyed much of the American Pacific Fleet, thus bringing the United States into World War II.

President Franklin D. Roosevelt called it a “day which will live in infamy” and this led Congress to declare war on Japan on the very next day. The rallying cry for the attack and ultimate entrance into the war became “Remember Pearl Harbor”

On  December 7th, Japan’s force arrived 275 miles northwest of Oahu, and at 6 a.m., it launched the first attack wave, consisting of 49 bombers, 40 torpedo planes, 51 dive‐bombers, and 43 fighter aircraft; this was followed by a second wave of 54 bombers, 78 dive‐bombers, and 36 fighters. The first wave arrived over Pearl Harbor at 7:55 a.m. (1:20 p.m. in Washington, D.C.), and the attack continued until 9:45 a.m.

The plan had called for a third wave to destroy the repair facilities as well as the storage tanks containing millions of gallons of fuel oil. The third wave never occurred. Despite losing only twenty‐nine planes, the Japanese feared that a counterattack would occur, so the attackers turned for home.

News of the surprise attack at Pearl Harbor shocked Americans and unified the country. Japan had misjudged the effect on a previously divided public. Although the battleships were damaged, Japan’s failure to destroy the repair yards enabled our forces to return six of the eight battleships and all but one of the other vessels to active duty. The wreckage of the U.S.S. Arizona remains there today as a monument to the attack. The fuel reserves enabled the remainder of the fleet to continue to operate, and failure to destroy the submarine base allowed submarines to play a major role in the Pacific War.

Luckily, the two aircraft carriers normally based at Pearl Harbor—the Lexington and the Enterprise—were undamaged. Being escorted by heavy cruisers and destroyers, they were out delivering planes to Midway and Wake Islands.

About 84,000 uniformed Americans were on Oahu that horrible day. Today, only about 8,000 survivors of Pearl Harbor remain, and most are in their 80s and older. Each year, a ceremony at the site remembers the attack. About 120 survivors are expected to attend that annual memorial ceremony this year.

The aftermath of the attacks rallied many American men to enlist in the military. So for many young Americans, enlisting was a matter of national survival as well as patriotism. All across the country, in urban and rural communities, military recruiting offices were jammed. Some offices announced they would stay open 24 hours, seven days a week to accept enlistments. Veterans of the First World War wanted to enlist, even though most were too old.

Despite the surge in patriotism, it was clear that enlistments alone would not bring enough men and women into the military to support the war effort. Even before the war began, Congress enacted a draft law in September 1940, but it limited the number of service men and women to less than one million. After war was declared, millions were called to duty. Before the war ended, well over 16 million men and women were enrolled in the armed forces, over 12 percent of the total U.S. population at the time.

World War II took more lives than any other war in history. Military and civilian fatal casualties numbered over 22 million with more than 34 million wounded.

But losses cannot be measured only in casualties. The war caused widespread famine and disease throughout the military theater. On our home front, families came to grips with the loss of over 400,000 dead related to the war and about 700,000 wounded. Woodrow Wilson had declared World War I as "the war to end all wars."  Apparently, history has shown us otherwise.

Tom Brokaw, the author of “The Greatest Generation” said, “They came of age during the Great Depression and the Second World War and went on to build modern America – men and women whose everyday lives of duty, honor, achievement, and courage gave us the world we have today.”

We should be very thankful to those men and women.

I am proud to be associated with many men who fought in World War II and answered their country’s call. From a D-Day pilot to tank and infantry men, I am proud to know them and even more thankful that they .

Take the time to thank a WW II veteran when you see him or her sporting a cap, jacket or shirt displaying their service. They will be both surprised and thankful for the acknowledgement.