Day of Infamy
Everyone in the United States old enough to remember will always remember where they were and what they were doing on Sunday morning, December 7, 1941. This is one of the most dramatic moments in American history, one that had a profound effect on the lives of all Americans alive at that moment. It was a moment that changed the course of history.
The Japanese surprise attack on Pearl Harbor started at 8:00 in the morning while most were still asleep and lasted two hours and 45 minutes. In that time, waves of Japanese carrier-based aircraft destroyed 188 United States aircraft, damaged 159 others, destroyed two battleships, sank three other battleships and three destroyers, seriously damaged three other battleships, three cruisers, a destroyer and several support ships.
In the sneak attack they killed 68 and wounded 1,178 civilians and killed 2,335 military personnel, nearly half who still lie in watery graves within the sunken hull of the battleship Arizona. Inaccessible for rescue, buried alive, the eerie sounds could be heard from above as they tapped the walls of their steel coffins and slowly gave up their lives, until the last tap 24 days later, on New Year's eve.
Isolationist America had attempted to stay out of the war which was already underway in Europe. One hour after the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor, they declared war on the United States, and the course was clear. At noon, on December 8, President Roosevelt addressed a joint session of Congress and, calling December 7,1941, "a date that will live in infamy", asked for a declaration of war. Less than an hour later, with one dissenting vote, Congress declared war with Japan.
The lives and dreams of American citizens were changed forever. Draft boards were overwhelmed by hordes of young men wanting to enlist. One man told of waiting in line three days to enlist because the line extended completely around the block. Women flocked to factories, which were open around the clock, working three shifts, seven days a week, turning out war supplies. There was hardly a worker who didn't have someone close in military service - a. husband, son, brother, father, uncle, nephew or boyfriend. For the first time in American history, women joined the military service, employed at that time in non-combat roles. Never before in the history of our nation, nor since, have the citizens been so united in a common cause and goal, to defeat Japan and Germany and to preserve freedom.
There is no better symbol of this "Day in Infamy" than the battleship Arizona, now a National Monument, which in the painting opposite is shown sinking with 1102 young sailors trapped inside.
In a small park in Philadelphia, there is written on a marble monument, "Freedom is a light for which many have died in darkness". It is a fitting thought when remembering the men who went down with the Arizona and died a slow, lingering death, in total darkness.