On December 8, 1941, US President Franklin Delano Roosevelt gave a speech that immortalized the previous day as a “day that will live in infamy.” Japanese planes had attacked the US military installation in Hawaii in a surprise onslaught that resulted in over 2,400 deaths and an abundance of damage. The Japanese goal of keeping the US out of the Pacific was unsuccessful, as the US declared war on the attackers after FDR’s speech. The horrors that took place at Pearl Harbor cemented US involvement in World War II and forever shaped modern warfare.
1. The First American Shots of WWII Were Fired Before the Attack
Early on the morning of the attack, US military personnel encountered a surprise: a Japanese midget submarine nosing its way into the harbor. The submarine’s periscope was detected by a minesweeper called the Condor. The Condor alerted the closest destroyer, the USS Ward, and the Ward attacked, firing shots at the sub until it sank.
Little did they know that the submarine was just the first of hundreds of Japanese invaders that would be descending upon Pearl Harbor that morning. Surprisingly, this event didn’t instantly put military forces on alert. Navy officials did not believe the Ward’s reports, and it would be 60 years until the sinking of the submarine was officially recognized.
The initial report was attributed to “war nerves” and brushed aside. In 2022, the wreckage of the submarine was located, and it was confirmed that it had been sunk in accordance with the story provided by the crew of the Ward. The shots that sank the Japanese sub were, though it was unknown at the time, the first fired by American forces in World War II.
Get the latest articles delivered to your inbox
Sign up to our Free Weekly Newsletter
2. The Attack Impacted Some Families Especially Dramatically
In December 1941, there were 38 sets of brothers and one father and son pair serving on the USS Arizona, one of the ships that was sunk in the Pearl Harbor attack. Allowing siblings to serve together was fairly common at the time and was thought to boost morale. After the attack, in which 1,177 of the 1,514 men aboard the Arizona perished, the military began to rethink allowing family members to serve together.
Twenty-three of the 38 sets of brothers were lost, and three sets were left with just one survivor. Father and son Thomas and William Free both perished in the attack. Though no official decree was ever put forth, the Navy released a bulletin discouraging family members from serving together.
The bulletin did little to prevent siblings from wanting to be together. After Pearl Harbor, five brothers from the Sullivan family of Waterloo, Iowa enlisted in the Navy. All five were killed in 1942 when the USS Juneau was torpedoed. This warning is still given today, though families are not permitted to serve in a hostile area together.
3. The Attack Was Inspired by a Fictional Book
In 1925, Hector Bywater, a British naval officer, published The Great Pacific War, a fictional novel that described a conflict that would eventually come to fruition. The author speculated about a conflict between Japan and the United States and described several events that would actually take place, including a surprise attack on the United States and the “island hopping” strategy that US forces would later use in the Pacific to strike against Japan.
The novel was popular throughout the 1920s and 30s. It was read by Marshal Admiral Isoruko Yamamoto, commander of the Japanese Imperial Navy’s combined fleet, who even met with the author several times while working as a naval attaché overseas. The Great Pacific War was translated into Japanese and was required reading for Japanese Navy Officers. While the book probably didn’t cause the attack, the details within likely inspired some of the planning behind the attack.
4. Today, USS Arizona Survivors Can Choose to Be Interred With Their Fallen Brethren
The USS Arizona held the brunt of the casualties from the Pearl Harbor attack, with only 334 survivors. Many of those who perished now lay with the ship eternally, unable to be recovered. While all Pearl Harbor survivors have the option to have their ashes scattered across the bay upon their passing, survivors of the Arizona have the unique opportunity to join their fallen shipmates.
After their deaths, these individuals may choose to have their urns interred in the well of barbette number four upon the Arizona by divers. A barbette is a fixed armored enclosure to protect the ship’s guns, making this a suitable, protected place for eternal rest. Services for these individuals are held on the USS Arizona memorial and include a committal, rifle salute, TAPS, and a flag and plaque presentation to the family along with the actual internment. As of 2020, 44 survivors have chosen this route.
5. Doris Miller Became the First African American to Be Awarded the Navy Cross
Doris “Dorie” Miller was the son of Texas sharecroppers who enlisted in the US Navy just shy of his twentieth birthday. The Navy was not desegregated until 1946, and as a result, many African American enlistees like Dorie were relegated to labor jobs. Miller was assigned to the USS West Virginia as a messman, and the ship headed to Pearl Harbor to shore up the Pacific Fleet not long after.
When the Pearl Harbor attack began, Miller was gathering laundry. He ran to the deck, where he found his commanding officer, who had been grievously wounded. He carried his captain to safety, then headed to the gun deck, which stood empty. Dorie had never received any formal training on the anti-aircraft guns, as was typical for Black sailors at the time. Regardless, he opened fire on the Japanese planes until the guns ran out of ammunition.
Afterward, he helped evacuate his comrades and was one of the last three men to leave the ship as it sank. Some accounts claim that Dorie downed two to five planes, but the actual number has never been verified. It wasn’t until the following March that Dorie would be formally recognized by the military or government, though rumors about an unidentified Black sailor’s heroics at Pearl Harbor swirled.
Dorie Miller became the first African American man to receive the Navy Cross, awarded in recognition of extraordinary heroism while engaged in action against an enemy. In terms of military decoration, it is second only to the Medal of Honor.
Miller continued to serve in the Navy after Pearl Harbor, moving to the carrier USS Liscome Bay. In November 1943, the ship was hit by a torpedo. In the assault, the bomb magazine exploded, and most of the sailors on board were killed. Miller, 24, was assumed dead. After one year and failure to recover his body, he was declared Killed in Action.
Since his death, the US Navy has named a dining hall, barracks, and a destroyer, the USS Miller, for Dorie. In addition, his hometown of Waco, Texas has numerous homages to him, including a park, and several other states have honored his legacy with dedications.
6. Many of the Damaged Battleships Returned to Duty
As America prepared to dive headlong into World War II, it was imperative that the wreckage of Pearl Harbor be salvaged, if possible, and put to use immediately. The Pearl Harbor Navy Yard bustled with repair work. Some of the ships could be repaired right there, while others had to be ferried to the mainland United States for more extensive repairs.
All but two of the ships, the Arizona and the Utah, were able to be salvaged. All of the saved ships were returned to service with the exception of the Oklahoma. While some items and materials were recovered from the sunken ships and able to be repurposed, the majority of the Arizona and Utah remain in Pearl Harbor today. Four of the formerly sunken ships, the California, Nevada, West Virginia, and the Oglala, a minelayer, were returned to active duty and used in combat against Japan during World War II. In all, the salvage operations took about two years.
7. The Americans Captured the First Japanese POW
The first Japanese Prisoner of War captured by American forces in World War II would be detained at Pearl Harbor. Ensign Kazuo Sakamaki and his companion, Chief Warrant Officer Kiyoshi Inagaki, were in a submarine moving towards the harbor to attack when the sub began experiencing mechanical issues. The ship began turning in circles and struck a coral reef three times. It ran aground just after the first wave of Japanese bombers struck. It was spotted and targeted with gunfire by an American destroyer, the Helm.
Though the Helm didn’t sink the sub, it was damaged enough that Sakamaki gave the order to his companion to abandon ship. Inagaki would drown in their attempted escape, and Sakamaki reached the beach but fell unconscious. He was retrieved by American officers, questioned, and sent to a POW camp on the mainland. After the war, Sakamaki wrote his memoirs and became a businessman, working for Toyota in Brazil and Japan.
8. The USS Arizona Still Leaks Fuel Daily
Over 80 years after the attack, oil continues to leak from the sunken hull of the USS Arizona daily. An estimated nine quarts of oil escapes the ship each day, and the National Park Service estimates that the leak has the potential to continue for approximately 500 more years.
9. A Baby Girl is Entombed in the Wreckage of the Utah
Chief Yeoman Albert Wagner was assigned aboard the USS Utah when it was attacked by the Japanese. Though he survived the bombing, the ashes of his baby daughter, Nancy, which were locked in his quarters, were forever lost within the wreckage of the ship, one of the two battleships that were unable to be revived from the ocean floor.
His daughter and her twin had been born prematurely, and unfortunately, baby Nancy did not survive. Her sister was in the hospital for four months before finally going home with her parents. Wagner had planned to spread his daughter’s ashes at sea with the help of the ship’s chaplain but had not yet had the chance. Twin sister Mary Dianne said that she feels “nothing but pride and pleasure” that her sister is among “magnificent company” as those who heroically lost their lives in the attack.
10. Elvis Presley Helped Fundraise for the USS Arizona Memorial
In the 1950s, plans were underway to create a Pearl Harbor memorial over the site of the sunken USS Arizona. However, fundraising efforts stalled out by 1960, with less than half the funds raised. Elvis Presley, who had just been discharged from the army the year before, stepped in to help. On March 26, 1961, the singer performed a benefit concert to a crowd of 4,000. The concert, a private donation from Presley, and the attention brought to the donation fund by his efforts were enough to get the memorial under construction. It was completed in May 1962.
