*Post written by James Wethington, library assistant at the University Archives and Special Collections.

In one sentence, U.S. President, Franklin D. Roosevelt (1941) summed up the emotion of the Pearl Harbor attacks: “YESTERDAY, December 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”.

On December 7, 1941, Japan attacked the United States on the island of Oahu in the Hawaiian Islands. The Pearl Harbor attack was planned by Yamamoto Isoroku; moreover, they had “… 6 aircraft carriers, 2 battleships, 3 cruisers, and 11 destroyers, sailed to a point some 275 miles (440 km) north of Hawaii. From there, about 360 planes in total were launched” (Editors of Encyclopædia Britannica, 2017). The attack began at 7:55 AM and after the attack, there were “… more than 180 aircraft were destroyed. U.S. military casualties totaled more than 3,400, including more than 2,300 killed. The Japanese lost from 29 to 60 planes, five midget submarines, perhaps one or two fleet submarines, and fewer than 100 men” (Editors of Encyclopædia Britannica, 2017).

USS Mt. Vernon with a signature from Captain Emory P. Eldredge, 1945. Source: Charles LaFollette Collection, MSS 005-021.

At the University Archives and Special Collections, we have over twenty collections relating to World War II, such as the Ken McCutchan, Dorothy Zehner, Owen Hamilton, Paul Grimes, and many other collections. On our online digital gallery, we have more than six hundred digital various media items available, such as images, text, and media files.

References

Editors of Encyclopædia Britannica (2017, February 23). Pearl Harbor attacks. Retrieved on November 27, 2017, from https://www.britannica.com/event/Pearl-Harbor-attack

Roosevelt, F. D. (1941) Speech by Franklin D. Roosevelt, New York Transcript. [Pdf] Retrieved from the Library of Congress, https://www.loc.gov/item/afccal000483/.