Dec. 7 Marks 75th Anniversary of Attack on Pearl Harbor
On a warm, tropical December 7th morning in 1941, Oahu’s Pearl Harbor—with its Naval ves-sels bobbing quietly along Battleship Row—welcomed the sunrise, coupled by only birdsong, the quiet lull of waves against ship hulls, and the first stirrings of soldiers going about their morning military routines. In fact, the majority of the Pearl Harbor servicemen were in the Mess Halls en-joying their breakfasts when, around 8 a.m., an unexpected barrage of Japanese fighter planes attacked the unsuspecting military base in what would be an initial onslaught lasting a mere two hours, but leaving utter devastation in its wake.
Swift and calculated, the Japanese attack destroyed nearly 20 American naval vessels and over 300 airplanes, and claimed the lives of more than 2,000 American soldiers, while wounding yet another 1,000. Termed by then President Franklin D. Roosevelt as “a date that will live in...