Pearl Harbor

Diary of Ginger!

"I was awakened at eight o'clock on the morning of December 7th by an explosion from Pearl Harbor. I got up thinking something exciting was probably going on over there. Little did I know! When I reached the kitchen the whole family, excluding Pop, was looking over at the Navy Yard. It was being consumed by black smoke and more terrific explosions. We didn't know what was going on, but I didn't like it because the first explosion looked as if it was right on top of Marie's house."

This is from Ginger's Diary found here

The truth; was Pearl Harbor a surprise attack?
LTC Clifford M. Andrew was one of the 5 people that knew about the Japanese attack. Here is some of the things he said.

"Anything I now tell you I will deny ever saying. I am still subject to military court martial for revealing the information. The American public is completely ignorant of those affairs that occur behind the scenes in top American government positions and offices. If you try to tell them the truth, they won't believe you."

"Five men were directly responsible for what happened at Pearl Harbor. I am one of those five men ... We knew well in advance that the Japanese were going to attack. At least nine months before the Japanese attack upon Pearl Harbor, I was assigned to prepare for it.
I was operating under the direct orders of the President of the United States and was ordered not to give vital intelligence information relating to the whereabouts of the Japanese fleet to our commanders in the field."

"We had broken the Japanese code ... We'd been monitoring all their communications for months prior to the attack ... It was a lie that we didn't have direct radio communications with Washington, D.C. "

Find out more from LTC Clifford M. Andrew here!

"A date which will live in Infamy"
"Yesterday, Dec. 7, 1941 - a date which will live in infamy - the United States of America was suddenly and deliberately attacked by naval and air forces of the Empire of Japan.
The United States was at peace with that nation and, at the solicitation of Japan, was still in conversation with the government and its emperor looking toward the maintenance of peace in the Pacific. "

"Indeed, one hour after Japanese air squadrons had commenced bombing in Oahu, the Japanese ambassador to the United States and his colleagues delivered to the Secretary of State a formal reply to a recent American message. While this reply stated that it seemed useless to continue the existing diplomatic negotiations, it contained no threat or hint of war or armed attack."

"The attack yesterday on the Hawaiian islands has caused severe damage to American naval and military forces. Very many American lives have been lost. In addition, American ships have been reported torpedoed on the high seas between San Francisco and Honolulu."

This is the famous speech that FDR gave on Pearl Harbor if you are interseted go here for more information.

Here's a political cartoon for Pearl Harbor by Dr. Seuss.
This picture shows how we got involved with the war. We were careless until Pearl Harbor. If it wasn't for that, we might not have ever joined the war.


This picture was found here





This was no "surprise" attack
"If the attack was a genuine "surprise," wouldn't he and the Congress have been eager to consult with Japan and find out WHY they attacked? Wouldn't Congressional hearings have been held? Wouldn't a commission have been created to study the issue? Wouldn't the Japanese government been consulted before acting?"

This secondary source comes down to, if we didn't ask them why they attacked us we must have known it was coming.

Attack at Pearl Harbor

"The surprise was complete. The attacking planes came in two waves; the first hit its target at 7:53 AM, the second at 8:55. By 9:55 it was all over. By 1:00 PM the carriers that launched the planes from 274 miles off the coast of Oahu were heading back to Japan.
Poster commemoratingthe attack, 1942Behind them they left chaos, 2,403 dead, 188 destroyed planes and a crippled Pacific Fleet that included 8 damaged or destroyed battleships. In one stroke the Japanese action silenced the debate that had divided Americans ever since the German defeat of France left England alone in the fight against the Nazi terror."
This is a great secondary source it, but it contradicts what we have researched so far. Maybe it's not that great of a source. It gives a pro and con act this is saying it was a surprise, when the rest of the research topic is saying it isn't a surprise.

Japanese Internment Camps
"On February 19th 1942 Roosevelt signed Executive Order 9066. Under the terms of the Order, some 120,000 people of Japanese descent living in the US were removed from their homes and placed in internment camps. The US justified their action by claiming that there was a danger of those of Japanese descent spying for the Japanese. However more than two thirds of those interned were American citizens and half of them were children. None had ever shown disloyalty to the nation. In some cases family members were separated and put in different camps. During the entire war only ten people were convicted of spying for Japan and these were all Caucasian."

If you are interested in reading more on this, click here for more information.

Journal notes kept by George Macartney Hunter
An officer with the U.S. Naval Reserve assigned to the USS West Virginia stationed at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii.

P.H.- December 7, 1941 Sunday

"Awoke this morning at 0730. Moe, Heavy, York, and myself had a golf match scheduled and planned to leave the ship at 0930. I lay sleepy-eyed in my bunk for some time.
At 07:45 the General Alarm sounded followed by "Away Fire and Rescue Party". I cussed a bit about having to turn-to; these alarms usually secured before one was able to dress and reach his station. Consequently, I was in no particular hurry to get dressed."

"Suddenly the General Alarm sounded again; and, simultaneously, a terrific explosion rocked the ship. Vail, Hine, and I looked at each other; "This is war!", said Pete and started topsides on the double. I headed for Sky Control but it was tough going as the ship listed heavily to port almost immediately."

"On reaching the second level in the mast, I met several of the men coming down. All communications and transmission to the guns had been lost with the first explosion (later reports stated that the West Virginia had taken four torpedoes to port)."

"We abandoned Sky Control and went down to the boat deck. Extra hands were needed to convey the shells to the starboard guns; the entire port battery had been put out of the commission by the "fish". There was no air pressure and all ramming was done by hand. In the excitement the shells were fired without setting fuses."

"Pearl Harbor was a devastating sight. Forward of the West Virginia the Oklahoma lay bottom up. Inboard of her the Maryland was putting up a tremendous volume of fire. I wondered what the "rump-rump" noise was and suddenly realized it to be the Maryland's 1.1" guns which proved extremely effective. Astern of us the Arizona was a mass of flame. The sky was rapidly filling with AA fire, but high altitude Jap bombers flew directly overhead in perfect formation."


If you would like to read more of the letter click here.