December 7th was a very important day when I was growing up. There was Christmas, Easter, my birthday and the Fourth of July, and then December 7th. My mom and dad were in their 20's during WW II, and that day was the emotional turning point in the lives of millions of Americans whose legacy still looms over the succeeding generations.
In '41 my dad was in the Army Engineers and was soon camped out on beaches and hills around the Big Island, Maui and Kauai, in places like Hanapepe putting in anti-aircraft guns and camouflaging radar sites.
December 7th
Historically speaking, the Japanese Imperial Navy launched a surprise attack with 353 aircraft on the American naval base at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, at eight AM on Sunday December 7, 1941. The planes were launched from aircart carriers north of Oahu and achieved complete surprise, eliminating the three American battleships Arizona, Utah and Oklahoma.
That day, the United States lost 2346 servicemen, of which 1177 were killed on the USS Arizona when a 1,760 pound bomb ignited her ammunition magazine. She sank in less than nine minutes.
Fifty-eight civilians were also killed on Oahu, and though Japanese pilots damaged 21 other ships, they were repaired and later saw action because Pearl was also a repair facility and the dry docks were soon back in operation.
Franklin D. Roosevelt declared December 7th "a date that will live in infamy," and as most people in pre-war America had never heard of "Pearl Harbor," the navy base was never a "place" but always stood for the events and emotions of that day and all the horrors of the four years of worldwide war.
New Movie
This Memorial Day, Hollywood releases "Pearl Harbor," a story about the friendship between Danny and Rafe, two pals from Tennessee, and the love affair between Rafe and Evelyn, an Army nurse. Their story starts in 1940 in New Jersey, takes us to England, then to Pearl and finally to Tokyo.
Ben Affleck plays Rafe McCawley. "Danny" is Josh Hartnett, and Kate Beckinsale plays their love interest Evelyn Stewart. Other notable Hollywood names in the film include Cuba Gooding Jr., Tom Sizemore, Jon Voight and Alec Baldwin.
Danny and Rafe are US Army pilots, but soon Rafe join the Royal Air Force to fight the Nazis in the skies over Britain. (The aerial combat footage is reported to be breathtaking.) Both Danny and Evelyn are transferred to Honolulu in the summer of '41, and when they hear that Rafe has been shot down, the grieving friends become lovers.
At this point the movie is just getting started. There's plenty of screen time for the planning of the attack on Pearl Harbor attack, and President Franklin D. Roosevelt makes an appearance lending historical weight to the impending storm.
Attack on film
The centerpiece of the movie is of course, the sleepy Sunday morning of December 7, 1941, and the film does its "Saving Private Ryan" best to render the catastrophe of the coming of war to the unaware and unsuspecting on the screen. If some pay to see the love story, others will pay to see these action sequences.
But the movie's not over until early 1942 when a small band of US Army bomber pilots take off from an aircraft carrier and drop a few bombs on the Japanese capital of Tokyo, and of course you know who the US Army pilots are, don't you?
James Jones wrote the definitive book about what Pearl meant to America in "From Here to Eternity" and he followed it up with two other novels, "The Thin Red Line" and "Whistle" to complete his gripping trilogy. This 2001 movie will revive memories and spark interest in the people and events that changed the world back in '41.
The Arizona Memorial
Today the U.S. Naval Base at Pearl Harbor is an active and important military installation, a large part of the Oahu family of communities, and the custodian of the memory of the December 7th.
The U.S.S. Arizona Memorial sits in the middle of Pearl Harbor straddling the sunken remains of the battleship. It was dedicated in 1962, and is now part of the National Park Service.
In 1999 over 1.4 million people visited the Arizona Memorial at Pearl Harbor. A visit starts on shore at the visitors center, where everyone is given free tickets. The tour of the Memorial starts with brief talk by a National Park Service ranger or a Pearl Harbor Survivor, followed by 20-minute documentary film on the Pearl Harbor attack to put the events into perspective.
A sacred memorial
After the film, visitors go to the boat landing and are taken by a U.S. Navy shuttle boat to the U.S.S. Arizona Memorial out in Pearl Harbor. An American flag still flies from a flag staff rising out of the water from the deck of the Arizona, and a thin trickle of oil still bleeds from deep within the hull of the ship.
The Arizona is sacred. It's a cemetary and beneath the watery memorial rest over 1,100 sailors and Marines. Visitors have 20 minutes to themselves out at the Arizona to contemplate how death came on a Sunday morning to so many young men. The ride back to shore in the Navy launch is usually made in silence.
Visitor information
The Memorial is open Sunday through Saturday from 7:30 A.M. to 5:00 P.M., but the last program of the day begins at 3:00 P.M. It's closed Thanksgiving, Christmas, and New Years Day.
The Arizona Memorial is about a 45-minute drive west (Ewa) Waikiki. Take the H-1 freeway West and get off at the "USS Arizona/Stadium" exit, #15a. The USS Arizona Memorial is on the shore overlooking Pearl Harbor on the side of State Highway 99 (Kamehameha Highway).
You can also drive the Ala Moana/Nimitz Highway Ewa out to Pearl, or you can take TheBus: #20 which comes out to the Arizona visitors center from Waikiki. In addition, many commercial tour operators run busses out to the Arizona Memorial. Check travel brochures or ask the concierge at your hotel for details.
(Contact the NPS at the USS Arizona Memorial: email - USAR_Administration@nps.gov ; write to - 1 Arizona Memorial Place, Honolulu, HI 96818 ; fax - 808-483-8608 ; phone -Visitor Information (808) 422-0561.)
• 21 Asian American World War II Vets to Get Medal of Honor
• Battleship Missouri Memorial
• Internet Resources on the USS Arizona
• James Jones Literary Society
• Pearl Harbor Attack - US Navy
• Punchbowl: National Memorial Cemetery Of The Pacific
• Remembering Pearl Harbor The USS Arizona Memorial
• The official Pearl Harbor (movie) Web site
• The Pacific War Memorial Association, Iwo Jima Memorial
• U S S Arizona Memorial (National Park Service)
• Upcomingmovies.com Pearl Harbor
