#TBT: 'A date which will live in infamy'
Seventy-six years ago today, Japanese forces carried out an attack on a US Navy base at Pearl Harbor in Hawaii, killing thousands and catapulting the United States into World War II. December 7, 1941, has since been remembered as, in President Franklin Roosevelt's words, 'a date which will live in infamy.'
While Japan hadn't declared war on the United States by the time the attack began, there were some indications of a possible attack. According to The National WWII Museum, an American cryptologist intercepted a Japanese message regarding Pearl Harbor on December 6. Multiple reports state that Japanese planes were seen on radar minutes before the attack, but were thought to be a group of US bombers.
The attack occurred around 8 a.m. on a Sunday morning, carried out by 353 Japanese planes, 35 submarines and two battleships. Multiple American ships were damaged or destroyed in the attack. More than 160 aircraft were totally destroyed, and 2,403 Americans died. Of those, 1,177 served on the USS Arizona.
On Thursday, President Donald Trump met with six of the remaining survivors of the Pearl Harbor attack.
'Throughout the war, one great battle cry could be heard by American friends and foes alike: 'Remember Pearl Harbor,'' Trump said.
Indeed, the aftermath of the attack on Pearl Harbor was a testament to the American spirit. Many of the ships sunk in the attack were refloated and returned to service. The USS Arizona still sits underwater, leaking between two and nine quarts of oil a day, serving as a permanent reminder of what was lost that day.
President Roosevelt delivered his now-famous speech to Congress on December 8, 1941, asking for a war declaration on Japan. The most famous part of the speech -- the 'infamy' line -- was originally written as 'a date which will live in world history,' according to the first draft now on file at the National Archives. Still accurate.
A less appreciated part of Roosevelt's speech still rings true:
'(A)lways will our whole Nation remember the character of the onslaught against us. No matter how long it may take us to overcome this premeditated invasion, the American people in their righteous might will win through to absolute victory,' he said.
1941: The Imperial Japanese Navy mounts a surprise attack on the United States naval base at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii. The attack, which killed 2,402 Americans, injured another 1,282, and destroyed 188 U.S. aircraft and six ships, led directly to the American entry into World War II, with war being declared on Japan the following day.
1941: The Imperial Japanese Navy mounts a surprise attack on the United States naval base at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii. The attack, which killed 2,402 Americans, injured another 1,282, and destroyed 188 U.S. aircraft and six ships, led directly to the American entry into World War II, with war being declared on Japan the following day.
1941: The Imperial Japanese Navy mounts a surprise attack on the United States naval base at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii. The attack, which killed 2,402 Americans, injured another 1,282, and destroyed 188 U.S. aircraft and six ships, led directly to the American entry into World War II, with war being declared on Japan the following day.
1941: The Imperial Japanese Navy mounts a surprise attack on the United States naval base at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii. The attack, which killed 2,402 Americans, injured another 1,282, and destroyed 188 U.S. aircraft and six ships, led directly to the American entry into World War II, with war being declared on Japan the following day.
1941: The Imperial Japanese Navy mounts a surprise attack on the United States naval base at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii. The attack, which killed 2,402 Americans, injured another 1,282, and destroyed 188 U.S. aircraft and six ships, led directly to the American entry into World War II, with war being declared on Japan the following day.
1941: The Imperial Japanese Navy mounts a surprise attack on the United States naval base at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii. The attack, which killed 2,402 Americans, injured another 1,282, and destroyed 188 U.S. aircraft and six ships, led directly to the American entry into World War II, with war being declared on Japan the following day.
1941: The Imperial Japanese Navy mounts a surprise attack on the United States naval base at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii. The attack, which killed 2,402 Americans, injured another 1,282, and destroyed 188 U.S. aircraft and six ships, led directly to the American entry into World War II, with war being declared on Japan the following day.
1941: The Imperial Japanese Navy mounts a surprise attack on the United States naval base at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii. The attack, which killed 2,402 Americans, injured another 1,282, and destroyed 188 U.S. aircraft and six ships, led directly to the American entry into World War II, with war being declared on Japan the following day.
1941: The Imperial Japanese Navy mounts a surprise attack on the United States naval base at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii. The attack, which killed 2,402 Americans, injured another 1,282, and destroyed 188 U.S. aircraft and six ships, led directly to the American entry into World War II, with war being declared on Japan the following day.
1941: The Imperial Japanese Navy mounts a surprise attack on the United States naval base at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii. The attack, which killed 2,402 Americans, injured another 1,282, and destroyed 188 U.S. aircraft and six ships, led directly to the American entry into World War II, with war being declared on Japan the following day.
The U.S. Navy battleships USS West Virginia (sunken at left) and USS Tennessee are seen shrouded in smoke following the Japanese air raid on Pearl Harbor.
U.S. Navy sailors in a motor launch rescue a survivor from the water alongside the sunken battleship USS West Virginia during or shortly after the Japanese air raid on Pearl Harbor. The USS Tennessee is visible behind West Virginia.
The U.S. Navy battleship USS California is seen slowly sinking alongside Ford Island, Pearl Harbor, as a result of bomb and torpedo damage. The destroyer USS Shaw is burning in the floating drydock YFD-2 in the left distance. The battleship USS Nevada is beached in the left-center distance.
The USS Nevada is seen afire off the Ford Island seaplane base, with her bow pointed up-channel. The volume of fire and smoke is actually from USS Shaw, which is burning in the floating drydock YFD-2 in the left background.
The USS Nevada heading down channel, afire from several Japanese bomb hits, as seen from Ford Island during the later part of the attack. The ship whose boom and flagstaff are visible at left is USS Avocet.
The U.S. Navy destroyer USS Shaw wrecked in floating drydock YFD-2 with fires nearly out but the structure still smoking. Her bow had been blown off by the explosion of her forward magazines, after she was set afire by Japanese dive bombing attacks. In the right distance are the damaged and listing USS California and a dredge.
The sunken battleship USS West Virginia at Pearl Harbor after her fires were out, possibly on Dec. 8, 1941. The USS Tennessee is inboard. A Vought OS2U Kingfisher floatplane (marked '4-O-3') is upside down on West Virginia's main deck. A second OS2U is partially burned out atop the Turret No. 3 catapult.
The wrecked destroyers USS Downes and USS Cassin in Drydock One at the Pearl Harbor Navy Yard, soon after the end of the Japanese air attack. Cassin has capsized against Downes. USS Pennsylvania is astern, occupying the rest of the drydock. The torpedo-damaged cruiser USS Helena is in the right distance, beyond the crane. Visible in the center distance is the capsized USS Oklahoma, with USS Maryland alongside. The smoke is from the sunken and burning USS Arizona, out of view behind Pennsylvania. USS California is partially visible at the extreme left.
U.S. Navy planes and a hangar burning at the Ford Island Naval Air Station's seaplane base, during or immediately after the Japanese air raid on Pearl Harbor. The ruined wings of a Consolidated PBY Catalina patrol plane are at left and in the center.
Sandbagged .30 caliber machine gun emplacement with gun crew on alert, at the seaplane base near Ford Island's southern tip, soon after the Japanese attack.
A Japanese midget submarine after having been raised by the U.S. Navy at the Pearl Harbor Navy Yard in December 1941. This submarine had been sunk by USS Monaghan in Pearl Harbor during Japanese attack and was subsequently recovered and buried in a landfill. The upper background had been overpainted for censorship purposes.
A burned U.S. Army Air Forces Boeing B-17C Flying Fortress rests near Hangar 5 at Hickam Field on Dec. 7, 1941. It was flown to Hickam by Capt. Raymond T. Swenson from California and arrived during the attack. On its final approach, the aircraft's magnesium flare box was hit by Japanese strafing and ignited. The burning plane separated upon landing. The crew survived the crash, but a flight surgeon was killed by strafing as he ran from the burning wreck.
Sailors stand amid wrecked planes at the Ford Island seaplane base, watching as the USS Shaw explodes in the center background. The USS Nevada is also visible in the middle background, with her bow headed toward the left. Several planes are in the foreground, a consolidated PBY, Vought OS2Us and Curtiss SOCs. The wrecked wing in the foreground is from a PBY.
USS Oklahoma righted to about 30 degrees, while she was under salvage at Pearl Harbor. She had capsized and sunk after receiving massive torpedo damage during the Japanese air raid. Ford Island is at right and the Pearl Harbor Navy Yard is in the left distance.
The forward magazine of the U.S. Navy destroyer USS Shaw explodes during the Japanese raid on Pearl Harbor. The Shaw was docked in the floating drydock YFD-2. At right, the bow of Nevada can be seen after her aborted escape attempt out channel. In background at left, smoke rises from Hickam Field.
A general view of Pearl Harbor during the Japanese attack on Dec. 7, 1941.
The front page of the Honolulu Star-Bulletin, 1st Extra, from Dec. 7, 1941, as shown at the Castle Air Museum.
Aerial view from Japanese plane taken during the early moments of the Pearl Harbor attack. The view is about southeast across the Middle Loch, with Honolulu and Diamond Head in the right distance. Torpedoes have just struck USS West Virginia and USS Oklahoma on the far side of Ford Island. On the near side of the island, toward the left, USS Utah and USS Raleigh have already been torpedoed. Fires are burning at the seaplane base, at the right end of Ford Island. Across the channel from the seaplane base, smoke along 1010 Dock indicates that USS Helena has also been torpedoed.
An aerial view of Pearl Harbor after the Dec. 7, 1941, attack. An Imperial Japanese Navy Nakajima B5N2 torpedo plane from the aircraft carrier Zuikaku in the foreground over Hickam Field. The USS California is visible in center, and tanker USS Neosho is off Kuahua, en route to Merry Point.
The U.S. Navy repair ship USS Vestal beached on Aiea shoal, Pearl Harbor, after the Japanese raid. She is listing from damage caused by two bombs that hit her during the attack.
The USS Arizona burning after the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor on Dec. 7, 1941. The ship is resting on the harbor bottom. The supporting structure of the forward tripod mast has collapsed after the forward magazine exploded.
U.S. Navy battleships at Pearl Harbor on Dec. 7, 1941 (from left to right): USS West Virginia (sunk), USS Tennessee (damaged), and the USS Arizona (sunk).
The burned-out wreck of USS Arizona at Pearl Harbor on Dec. 7, 1941.
The corner of Montgomery and Market streets in San Francisco as seen on Monday morning, Dec. 8, 1941, after the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor.
A 'Remember December 7th' U.S. government propaganda poster from 1942.
An 'Avenge December 7!' U.S. government propaganda poster from 1942.
An aerial view of the USS Arizona Memorial with a tour boat moored at the pier as visitors disembark.
The USS Utah Memorial on Ford Island, Pearl Harbor, Hawaii.
Bullet and shrapnel holes still scar the outside of the Pacific Air Forces headquarters building at Hickam Air Force Base in Hawaii.