On December 8, 1941, U.S. President Franklin Delano Roosevelt gave a historic speech, calling the previous day “a day that will live in infamy.” Japanese planes launched a surprise attack on the U.S. military base in Hawaii, killing over 2,400 people and causing severe damage. Japan’s objective to prevent American intervention in the Pacific region failed, as immediately following Roosevelt’s speech, the United States declared war on Japan.
The First American Shots in World War II
On the morning of the Pearl Harbor attack, the U.S. military faced a major surprise: a Japanese midget submarine was sneaking into the harbor. The submarine’s periscope was spotted by the minesweeper USS Condor. The Condor immediately reported to the nearest destroyer, the USS Ward, and Ward opened fire, sinking the submarine after a fierce battle.
What they did not expect was that this submarine was just the beginning of the hundreds of Japanese invading forces that would descend upon Pearl Harbor that morning. However, this incident did not immediately alert the U.S. military. Navy officials dismissed the report from the Ward, and it took 60 years before the sinking of the submarine was officially recognized.
The initial report was dismissed as a “war nerves reaction.” It wasn’t until 2022 that the wreckage of the submarine was found, confirming that it had been sunk as per the testimony of the Ward crew. These shots that sank the Japanese submarine, although unknown at the time, became the first American shots in World War II.
The Attack Brought Tragedy Especially to Some Families
In December 1941, aboard the USS Arizona, one of the ships sunk in the Pearl Harbor attack, there were 38 sets of brothers and one father-son pair serving together. Allowing family members to serve together was quite common at the time, as it was believed to boost morale. However, after the attack, in which 1,177 out of the 1,514 men aboard the Arizona died, the U.S. military began to reconsider this policy.
Of the 38 sets of brothers, 23 sets were killed together, and three sets had only one survivor. The father-son pair Thomas and William Free also died in the attack. Although there was no official ban, the U.S. Navy issued a notice advising against family members serving together.
However, this notice did not stop brothers from wanting to fight together. After Pearl Harbor, five Sullivan brothers from Waterloo, Iowa, enlisted in the Navy together. They all died in 1942 when the USS Juneau was hit by a torpedo. Today, the policy still prohibits family members from serving together in a combat zone.
The Pearl Harbor Attack Was Inspired by a Fictional Book
In 1925, Hector Bywater, a British naval officer, published a novel The Great Pacific War, describing a fictional conflict between Japan and the United States. Notably, the book predicted many events that would later happen in reality, including a surprise attack on the U.S. and the “island-hopping” strategy that the U.S. would later use to fight Japan in the Pacific War.
The book became popular in the 1920s and 1930s and was read by many people, including Admiral Isoroku Yamamoto, the commander of the Imperial Japanese Navy’s combined fleet. Yamamoto even met the author Hector Bywater several times when he was a naval attaché abroad. The Great Pacific War was translated into Japanese and became required reading for Japanese naval officers.
Although the book was not the direct cause of the attack, its details likely influenced Japan’s plan for the Pearl Harbor attack.
Today, Survivors from the USS Arizona Can Choose to Rest with Their Shipmates
The USS Arizona suffered the heaviest losses during the Pearl Harbor attack, with only 334 survivors out of 1,514 crew members. Many who sacrificed their lives now rest forever with the ship beneath the sea. Survivors of the attack can choose to have their ashes scattered in Pearl Harbor after they pass, but those who survived the USS Arizona have a special option: to be buried with their shipmates on the ship.
According to their wishes, the ashes are placed in urns and buried in the number four barbette of the Arizona by divers. The barbette is a fixed armored cover designed to protect the ship’s guns, making it a fitting and safe resting place. Memorial ceremonies are held at the USS Arizona Memorial, including tribute rituals, a gun salute, the playing of TAPS, and the presentation of flags and plaques to families before the burial.
As of 2020, 44 veterans have chosen to rest forever with the ship and their comrades.
Doris Miller: The First African American to Receive the Navy Cross
Doris “Dorie” Miller, the son of a farming family in Texas, joined the U.S. Navy when he was nearly 20 years old. Before the Navy abolished racial segregation in 1946, African American soldiers like Miller were often assigned only to manual labor tasks. Miller was assigned as a mess attendant aboard the USS West Virginia, which was later stationed at Pearl Harbor to bolster the Pacific Fleet.
When the attack on Pearl Harbor began, Miller was collecting laundry. He immediately ran to the deck, found his commanding officer severely wounded, and moved him to safety. He then ran to the gun deck, where there were no crew members, and began firing at Japanese planes. Despite having never been trained to use anti-aircraft guns—common for African American sailors at the time—Miller continued firing until he ran out of ammunition.
After the battle, Miller helped evacuate his fellow sailors and was one of the last three men to leave the ship before it sank. Some reports claim he shot down between two and five Japanese planes, but the exact number was not verified. His heroic actions were officially recognized by the military in March 1942 after rumors spread about an unnamed African American sailor who fought courageously at Pearl Harbor.
Doris Miller became the first African American to receive the Navy Cross, the award for extraordinary heroism in combat, second only to the Medal of Honor.
After the Pearl Harbor attack, Miller continued to serve on the USS Liscome Bay aircraft carrier. In November 1943, the ship was hit by a torpedo and exploded in the bomb magazine, killing most of the crew. Miller, who was 24 at the time, is believed to have died. After a year with no recovery of his body, he was declared killed in action.
Since his death, the U.S. Navy has named a mess hall, a barracks, and the USS Miller destroyer in his honor. Additionally, Miller’s hometown of Waco, Texas, has a park named after him, and many other locations have erected memorials to honor his courageous actions.
Many Damaged Warships Returned to Service
As the United States prepared to become more deeply involved in World War II, the task of salvaging and reusing warships at Pearl Harbor became urgent. The Pearl Harbor Navy Yard worked at full capacity to repair damaged ships. Some ships were repaired on-site, while others requiring more extensive repairs were sent to the U.S. mainland.
Among the damaged ships, only two, the Arizona and the Utah, could not be salvaged. Most of the other ships were restored and returned to service, except for the Oklahoma, though some materials and equipment from the sunken ships were reused. The two battleships, Arizona and Utah, still lie at the bottom of Pearl Harbor, becoming historical symbols.
Four ships that had been sunk, including California, Nevada, West Virginia, and the minesweeper Oglala, were re-equipped and fought against Japan in World War II. The entire salvaging and repair process took about two years, demonstrating the tremendous effort of the U.S. Navy to recover its fleet.
The U.S. Captured the First Japanese Prisoner of War
The first Japanese prisoner of war captured by the U.S. military in World War II was held at Pearl Harbor. Lieutenant Kazuo Sakamaki and his associate, Ensign Kiyoshi Inagaki, were traveling aboard a submarine headed toward the harbor when they encountered a technical failure. The submarine began to circle and struck a reef three times before grounding, just after the first wave of Japanese bombers attacked.
The submarine was discovered and bombarded by the U.S. destroyer Helm. Although it was not sunk, the submarine was heavily damaged, and Sakamaki ordered his crew to abandon ship. Inagaki drowned while trying to escape, while Sakamaki drifted ashore and was unconscious. He was captured by U.S. officers, interrogated, and later taken to a prisoner-of-war camp on the U.S. mainland.
After the war, Sakamaki wrote a memoir and became a businessman, working for Toyota in Brazil and Japan, completing the journey from a soldier to a prisoner and then to a prominent post-war figure.
The USS Arizona Still Leaks Oil Daily
Over 80 years after the attack, oil still continues to leak from the sunken hull of the USS Arizona every day. It is estimated that around 9 quarts of oil escape from the ship each day, and the U.S. National Park Service predicts that this leakage could continue for another 500 years.
A Little Girl Was Buried with the Wreck of the USS Utah
Sergeant Albert Wagner, who was aboard the USS Utah, survived the Japanese attack. However, the ashes of his daughter, Nancy, which had been kept in a private room, were lost forever in the wreckage of the sunken ship. The USS Utah was one of the two battleships that could not be salvaged from the sea.
Nancy, along with her twin sister, was born prematurely and sadly passed away early. Wagner had planned to scatter his daughter’s ashes at sea with the help of the ship’s chaplain, but he never had the chance. Nancy’s twin sister, Mary Dianne, shared that she felt “proud and honored” to know her sister rests with the heroes who sacrificed their lives during the attack.
Elvis Presley Helped Raise Funds for the USS Arizona Memorial
In the 1950s, a plan to build a memorial at the site of the sunken USS Arizona at Pearl Harbor was proposed. However, by 1960, fundraising efforts were stagnating, with less than half of the necessary funds raised.
Elvis Presley, who had just returned from military service the previous year, helped out. On March 26, 1961, he held a benefit concert for over 4,000 people. The performance, along with Presley’s personal donation and the attention he brought to the fundraising efforts, was enough to push the project forward. The USS Arizona Memorial was officially completed in May 1962.
Conclusion
The Pearl Harbor attack was not only a tragic event in World War II history but also marked the turning point that brought the United States deeper into the global war. With over 2,400 lives lost and irreplaceable damage, the event forever changed the course of modern warfare and left a deep mark on humanity.
Through this article on The Facts of War, we hope readers gain a more comprehensive understanding of the Pearl Harbor attack—from its causes and events to its long-term consequences. We aim to share valuable historical lessons from this event and spark curiosity about the defining moments in the flow of history.
Content edited by: Minh Tuan
Source: thecollector.com – 10 Facts About the Pearl Harbor Attack
