Dec. 7, 2020 – Dec. 7, 1941 is a date that has and will live in infamy. On that day, 2,390 sailors, soldiers and civilians lost their lives at the U.S. Navy base at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii. Their generation, often called the Greatest Generation, would go on to liberate Europe and bring an end to World War II (1939-1945).
In the 1930s, Germany, Japan and Italy, each with their own eyes on expanding their rule over other countries, had been plotting and carrying out their vision for a new world order. Americans were still weary from World War I (1914-1918) and wanted to stay out of brewing tensions in Europe in particular.
When Germany invaded Poland on Sept. 1, 1939, America largely held to its isolationist sentiment. But then on Dec. 7, 1941, Imperial Japan attacked the U.S. Navy base at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii. Hawaii was not yet one of the 50 states.
President Franklin D. Roosevelt (FDR) addressed a Joint Session of Congress the following day telling the nation the date would live in infamy. Then Congress declared war on Japan. A declaration of war on Germany quickly followed. America had entered World War II (1939-1945) and the nation rallied as never before.
can still be seen. (Photo: Redwood Learn in Pearl Harbor in 2018)
Automobile factories pivoted to produce airplanes, military vehicles, and tanks instead of cars and trucks for consumers. New factories were built in record time. Ford built a factory that was one mile long to make B-24 Liberator bombers on an assembly line. Few thought Ford could do it but they did. At its peak production in 1943 and 1944, one B-24 Liberator was being produced every hour.
As men went off to war, women went to work in the factories so the nation could meet demand for wartime materials. Rosie the Riveter, an iconic symbol first introduced to the nation through a song, came to represent the “Can Do” spirit that defined the generation that ultimately liberated Europe from Nazi Germany and defeated Imperial Japan’s quest for domination in Asia.
Dec. 7, 1941
On a beautiful Sunday morning in Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, Imperial Japan launched a surprise attack that resulted in the loss of 2,390 lives that included 49 civilians, according to information from the National Park Service (NPS). Nearly one-half of American service members (U.S. Navy sailors and Marine Corps soldiers) killed were serving on the USS Arizona, a battleship. And 429 service members died on the USS Oklahoma, also a battleship.
From December 1941 through June 1942, military personnel searched for remains of the fallen from the USS Oklahoma but only 35 were identified. About 400 remains were buried as Unknowns at the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific in Honolulu.
In 2015, the Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency worked with the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) to exhume those remains. To date, more than 100 sailors and Marines from the USS Oklahoma have been identified and returned to their families for final burial. Advances in technology now allow for the extraction of DNA from tiny pieces of human remains. The names of sailors and soldiers serving that day are known. So once a piece of DNA is extracted, it is matched against living family members to definitely identify the remains.
On the USS Arizona, 1,177 service members died, many of them never recovered. The sunken battleship today is a sacred burial ground for 900 of the 1,177 who died. A memorial was built over the sunken ship. To this day, oil can still be seen leaking from the ship. Some of the USS Arizona survivors wanted to be buried with their brothers. As of July 2020, 44 sailors and Marines who survived the inferno on the USS Arizona have had their ashes interred underwater.
(Photo: U.S. Marine Corps photo by Gunnery Sgt. Michael Schellenbach)
The last interment was held in 2019 for FC2c L.F. Bruner. After a solemn ceremony, divers place the remains in the ship.
Pearl Harbor National Memorial
In 1958, President Dwight D. Eisenhower, who was the Supreme Allied Commander during the D-Day invasion on June 6, 1944, established the USS Arizona Memorial. The memorial was built over the hull of the sunken ship and dedicated in 1962. The U.S. Navy operated the memorial.
In 1980, a new visitor center was built and the National Park Service joined with the U.S. Navy to operate it. Located near downtown Honolulu on the island of Oahu, Pearl Harbor is the most visited site on Oahu. It’s still an active U.S. Navy base.
On the NPS homepage today, the main message is about the end of the year and the start of a new one. “Find Peace in Parks” is in bold letters. Clicking to learn more, NPS says that parks provide “healing, inspiration and peace.”
It’s so true for the family members of those killed on Dec. 7, 1941. The Pearl Harbor National Memorial is a beautiful remembrance of their sacrifice so the day and date will always live in infamy.
At 7:50 a.m. today at Pearl Harbor, the annual ceremony (Pearl Harbor Remembrance Day) will be held to honor the fallen. For more information, visit the U.S. Navy.