National Archives: "USS SHAW exploding during the Japanese raid on Pearl Harbor." December 7, 1941.
National Archives: "USS SHAW exploding during the Japanese raid on
Pearl Harbor." December 7, 1941.
". . . We here highly resolve that these dead shall
not have died in vain . . .
Remember December 7th!"
"I was at Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941; that day of infamy. I wasn't particularly important, just a courier, running errands between military departments. The U.S. Pacific Fleet being stationed there was a point of great controversy. Our most powerful element of American defense in the Pacific Ocean was collected and sitting in the waters of Pearl. Usually, this fleet was stationed along the West Coast of the United States, and made a training cruise to Hawaii each year. But with war looming, the U.S. Pacific Fleet was moved to the Pearl Harbor naval base in Hawaii. The perfect location for American forces, it was halfway between the United States West Coast and the Japanese military bases in the Marshall Islands. President Roosevelt felt that the presence of the Pacific Fleet in Hawaii would retard any Japanese attempt at a strike on the United States. Admiral James O. Richardson of the Pacific Fleet was in full opposition to the long stay at Pearl Harbor. Nevertheless, all of his objections got him nothing but dismissal.
While all this was going on amongst the "big-wigs", we regular personnel went on about our lives, feeling perfectly secure and invincible. There were those of us who were always suspicious and paranoid of the Japanese, such as my best friend, Sam— and that always puzzled me. Sam Subaki was a Japanese-American! He worked in Naval Intelligence as a translator. It was his job to intercept and break Japanese radio codes. He was always reporting some "lead" he had about the Japanese. After several months, the head honchos stopped listening to Sam's conspiracy theories, but that didn't stop him.
It was December 6, 1941, and I had been out to town with Sam. He'd been going on all night about movements of the Japanese Navy. Apparently they had dispatched most of their fleet at irregular intervals throughout November. However, what really had set Sam off was the disappearance of the Akagi; a Japanese aircraft carrier. There was no sign of it.
"Japan has become like Hitler's Germany, crazed for the taste of power and blood. They want to build a great empire, and they will not let a few men in Washington stop them! They are up to something, I know it!" Sam told me that night, before dashing off to decode some new message. I tried to tell myself that he was just an over ambitious tech, obsessed with paranoia towards the native land of his parents.
I had a miserable night. I couldn't get Sam's words out of my head, he was so sure that Japan was going to attack us! I got up early that morning to look for Sam & I found him around 5:45am. He was glued to his radio and hadn't slept all night.
"Joe!" He shouted after several hours of listening and transcribing, "It's started! They're coming!"
We raced to Headquarters, to sound the alert. By now, he had won me over. The Japanese had brought an aircraft carrier 230 miles north of Oahu, practically into our backyard. They had been sending low frequency signals to some ship or ships, and a Japanese sub had just been sunk not far from Pearl. When we got there, no one would believe us! We looked over at the radar screen and to my horror I saw a swarm of aircraft heading our way. "It's them, it's the Japanese!" I shouted, fully believing the oncoming danger that Sam had been warning us about for weeks.
"Ok, boys, shut it down let's go get some coffee," came a voice from a junior officer.
"But what about the blips on the screen?" I demanded.
"My Lieutenant says they're just B-17's we're expecting from the mainland this morning."
"No, you're wrong! Call him back, It's the Japanese!" I was totally beside myself, the Japanese were coming and no one would listen. We ran out into the street just to see the first wave of fighter planes coming over the ridge. They came like an angry lion on a meadow of sleeping lambs. It was too late! Sirens and explosions filled the air. I just stood there on the curb and wept as I saw plane after plane dropping bomb after bomb on our beloved and powerful Pearl Harbor fleet.
Most of the aircraft that was collected was sitting useless on one airstrip; they were the first to be destroyed, leaving Pearl defenseless. Of the approximate 100 U.S. Navy ships present in the harbor that day, eight battleships were damaged with five sunk in the harbor. Eleven smaller ships including cruisers and destroyers were also badly damaged. Among those killed were 2,335 servicemen and 68 civilians. The U.S.S. Arizona was dealt the worst blow of the attack. Sunk by a 1,760-pound bomb, the ammunition on board exploded killing 1,177 servicemen.
[To this day, the Arizona still leaks oil, making the water around it's resting place an eerie black.]
We're in this war to avenge our losses from that fateful day! As you get shipped to different places and get assigned to different duties, never forget Pearl Harbor!
National Archives: Captured Japanese photograph taken during the December 7,
1941, attack on Pearl Harbor.
In the distance, the smoke rises from Hickam Field.
