On our day in Honolulu we took a tour called “The VIP Pearl Harbor Tour”. It not only included a visit to Pearl Harbor, but it included all the sites that were important on 12/07/41. During this trip we’ve had several lectures on the WWII War in the Pacific and this put together the last pieces of the puzzle and finished teaching us how much we didn’t know about “the great war” that affected our parents’ generation so significantly.
The first thing to understand is why it was important for Japan to knock out Pearl Harbor. They were at war trying to take over China and they wanted to develop an empire that encompassed, not only China, but all of Indochina and many islands in the South Pacific. The purpose for this: natural resources—they didn’t have oil, coal, tin or iron ore. They knew they couldn’t take all these nations as long as the US was so powerful in the Pacific. The mastermind of Pearl Harbor, Adm. Isoroku Yamamoto, knew that the only hope of success was a surprise hit. He knew that in a prolonged war the US would win—and we did.
The Japanese fleet of 33 ships, including 6 aircraft carriers, left Japan on 11/26/41 and crossed 4000 miles of ocean in total silence, north of the standard shipping lanes. Included were 5 submarines that carried 5 midget submarines that they hoped would sneak into Pearl Harbor and torpedo our battle ships. 183 of their planes arrived at the island of Oahu about 8:00 that morning and immediately took out planes on the airfields, so no planes could take off to defend the ships. They then hit the harbor, sinking or beaching 12 ships and damaging 9 others. A second wave of Japanese planes that hit half an hour later attempted to take out dry docks and repair facilities, but fortunately, by then, we had some planes in the air and were able to minimize the second round of damage. The US lost 2390 military and civilian personnel that day and permanently lost 3 battleships (USS Arizona, USS Utah and USS Oklahoma). The remaining ships were salvaged and returned to sea in record time. Fortunately, the 2 US aircraft carriers stationed there were out of port and undamaged.
Should we have been better prepared? The consensus seems to be yes. A senior staff member at the Japanese Consulate had been sending coded messages to Japan for some time. The code had been cracked and the numbers were increasing in frequency prior to 12/7. And yet, the Admiral and General in charge of the Navy and Army at Pearl Harbor were never apprised of this. Additionally, on 12/7, 2 events occurred that could have gotten us in a better defensive position prior to the attack..
· At 6:40 that morning a US ship spotted and sank one of the Japanese mini-subs and reported it to headquarters, but central command request visual verification of what sank because they thought it might be a whale.
· At 7:00 AM a radar station spotted a large number of planes flying in the direction of Oahu and reported it. They were told that this was OK because a number of bombers were expected from California, but no one flew out for visual verification.
Today, the National Monument is called World War II: Valor in the Pacific. It includes the memorial at Pearl Harbor over the sunken USS Arizona (pictures 1 and 2), plus an excellent Visitor Center and several other ships and memorials in the surrounding area (including the USS Missouri, where the Japanese surrender took place in September, 1945). It also includes sites in the Aleutian Islands (where Japan actually did control a couple islands for a short period of time) and California (where Japanese-Americans were interred).
We also visited the “Pineapple Pentagon”—the command center for the war in the Pacific (picture 3). There we were taught about the patch designed for all who served in the Pacific (picture 4). You’ll notice there are 12 stars, 7 in the Big Dipper, 4 in the Southern Cross and 1 for the North Star—12/7/41. The red arrow in the center represents blood shed in the cause and the surrounding white for the purity of purpose.
If you look at a map of Oahu, you’ll see that Pearl Harbor is a perfect location—small entry to the harbor, with lots of room for lots of ships. To watch the movie from actual film clips and then stand at this very peaceful place and try to imagine what it was like at this exact spot on 12/7/41, is inconceivable.
We had lunch at the Officers’ Club, visited the air base where all our planes were lined up and destroyed by the Japanese and finished up at the Punch Bowl—the National Cemetery where many of the men are interred. The USS Arizona blew up and almost half of the deaths occurred there. These men remain buried in their ship. Interestingly, the survivors of the Arizona have the option of being cremated and having their ashes lowered into a crack in the Arizona, to be buried with their shipmates. About 30 men have done so. There are believed to be only 14 survivors of the Arizona remaining.
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