Air Raid On Pearl Harbor. This Is No Drill!

[VPNAVY]

AIR RAID ON PEARL HARBOR. THIS IS NO DRILL
National Archives and Records Administration

December 7, 1941

- Telegram from Commander in Chief of the Pacific Fleet (CINCPAC) to all ships in Hawaiian area, December 7, 1941.

The Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor catapulted the United States into World War II. On December 7, 1941, the U.S. naval base on the island of Oahu, Hawaii, was subject to an attack that was one of the greatest military surprises in the history of warfare. In less than 2 hours, the U.S. Pacific Fleet was devastated, and more than 3,500 Americans were either killed or wounded...more...

[DefensiveCarry.com]

[JoJoGunn]

My Grandfather, a WWI veteran had a nephew who was at Hickam Field during the attack. He told us about it during a visit to my parents home many years ago.

It is still fresh in the minds of a growing number of people who are aging and dying. My dad's cousin has passed on as well, and we will soon have no more of those who were immersed in this attack. Only those left can remind the world of that day and we should never forget.

[Jeanlouise]

God Bless our servicemen and women, they never flinch.

[xXxplosive]

My family was at Pearl Harbor that infamous day.....my uncle would tell us about it and we have pics of him there in Hawaii.....he was a Captain / Dentist.....probably the only dentist ever to do castration surgery as all medical personel were working on emergency call naturally.

[Piratesailor]

Thank you to all those who sacrificed to keep our freedoms and way of life.... The greatest generation.

(And I'm sorry we are screwing it up)

[ccw9mm]

The National Archives' online web site has quite a few good photos and documents related to the Pearl Harbor attack.

Search @ National Archives: click. Can restrict to photos, film, documents.

Here are some neat photos, audio from Dec. 7, 1941. Such as ...

News Report by NBC reporter on a rooftop in Honolulu, during the ~3hr attack

Analysis of the attack, by H.V. Kaltenborn

Repairs being done at Ford Island Naval Air Station later that day:


A man being rescued from the water near the USS West Virginia:


Hangar and planes damaged:


USS California sinking into the mud:


Damaged warships:


Two-man submarine found beached, soon after the attack:


USS West Virginia and USS Tennessee damaged:


Destroyers USS Downes and USS Cassin:

[OD*]

God Bless our servicemen and women, they never flinch.

Amen.

[kapnketel]

God Bless our servicemen and women, they never flinch.

Indeed!

[goldshellback]

Having been stationed at Pearl for nearly 6 years, the history of that attack is inescapable. There were still a few buildings with bullet holes on Ford Island. Our Captian actually orginized a lesson with a Pearl Harbor survivor who was a teen living on Ford Island....... A history lesson from someone who was there. Very moving and profound listening to a first-hand account.

It was a privlege and an honor to have served there and to carry on what thos before us had endured there.

[OldVet]

My dad was a Seabee during WWII, and I only found out by accident that he preformed the surveying for the pits used to load the atomic bombs on the B-29s on Tinian. I always wished he'd recorded his memories of the war, but he always made out it was no big deal, typical of many who served. I have so many questions that will remain unanswered.

After his death I found most of his letters he'd written during the war. I hoped to post the one from Aug. 16, 1945 when he received word of the surrender, but I can't get it to copy (I hate pdf!). The mixed emotions of rumors versus facts are very evident.

[mkh]

God Bless America and our Armed Forces.

Never forget what this day ( and 9/11 ) mean.

[msgt/ret]

Having been stationed at Pearl for nearly 6 years, the history of that attack is inescapable. There were still a few buildings with bullet holes on Ford Island. Our Captian actually orginized a lesson with a Pearl Harbor survivor who was a teen living on Ford Island....... A history lesson from someone who was there. Very moving and profound listening to a first-hand account.

It was a privlege and an honor to have served there and to carry on what thos before us had endured there.

Been to Hickam many times, PACAF Headquarters and several other buildings there still show scars from bullets and shrapnel.

[pgrass101]

Moved from Off topic and humor


World war II seems to be the last time that our country was willing to work together collectively and sacrifice for the greater good.

[OldVet]

No knock against the skills and will of today's forces, but it was also the last time our enemy was defeated. Since then we've made truces, left, or allowed the enemy to melt away. I suppose that's what happens when the civilian command decides to play nice.

In WWII we had a purpose; The defeat and unconditional surrender of the enemy forces. Now no uniformed enemy challenges us, only those who seek to hide among "innocents," if they could be distinguished from the enemies.

[Mike1956]

The only survivor of the Pearl Harbor attack I ever had the privilege to meet was Carmen Caruso. At the time of the attack, he was a 22-year-old Marine awaiting transport to Wake Island. He was on a harbor transport boat when the attack occurred, and spent the remainder of daylight hours pulling wounded from the water. Two days later, his transport departed for Wake Island. During the Battle of Midway, a Japanese bomb knocked him off his gun, took his hearing, and ended his military career. He came to Marion, Ohio after the war, raised his family, and tried to forget. After 9/11, he was finally moved to speak of his wartime experience. He passed on in 2005.