-The electronic field trip "Remember Pearl Harbor:
How Students Like You Experienced The Day Of Infamy"
is made possible by Lillian and Jimmy Maurin
with additional funding by
The Joe W. and Dorothy Dorsett Brown Foundation
and by The Dudley and Constance Godfrey Foundation
and The Dale E. and Janice Davis Johnston Family Foundation.
-I was out in the yard playing,
and I saw this Japanese Zero fly overhead.
-Planes came over the tree top, and that's my first view,
not knowing that was Japanese at all.
You know, being an 11-year-old kid,
seeing all the planes was something
that were really exciting to me.
I never saw so many.
Planes were flying all over the sky.
-I was in the Navy, and what got our attention first
was the noise the dive bombers were making coming down,
so we all run out the front of the hanger and looked up.
We didn't realize instantly that they were Japanese.
-When the Zero passed over, he went to Pearl.
-And, of course, when they pulled out of their dive,
they could see the red circle on the wings.
Then it was a matter of self-preservation.
Get under cover somewhere.
-I saw a big plume of smoke go up.
I hear it went up 200 feet.
It was not black. It was red.
It was the Arizona, and, eventually, it turned black.
-Seeing the planes, seeing the explosion,
hearing the explosion, the bombing, the fire,
the smoke, the gunfire.
That was really something.
-You know, our life was changed because it was fear.
You know, we lived in fear for a long time,
and with all the restrictions of the martial law like blackout,
like rationing, censorship,
that was something that we had to grow up with.
-The Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor in Hawaii
on December 7, 1941,
changed life for all Americans.
Shock spread throughout the nation
as the devastating news interrupted radio broadcasts
and burst onto newspaper headlines.
The next day, the United States was officially at war.
In this electronic field trip,
on the 75th anniversary of the Pearl Harbor attack,
eyewitnesses and survivors explain to our student reporters
and to all of you why we should remember Pearl Harbor.
♪♪
-Yesterday, December 7, 1941,
a date which will live in infamy...
-President Franklin Roosevelt's call to duty and to war
still echoes today at Pearl Harbor
and throughout this country, especially here
at The National World War II Museum in New Orleans.
I'm Tom Gregory, and welcome to this electronic field trip
where you'll have a chance to learn more
about the day of infamy,
which happened 75 years ago on December 7, 1941,
when Japan attacked the United States at Pearl Harbor.
The attack brought the US into World War II,
changing the lives of all Americans.
We're going to learn why Japan attacked Pearl Harbor,
how Japan attacked Pearl Harbor, what happened after the attack,
including what happened to students' lives
and where we can remember Pearl Harbor
and continue to learn about its significance
in American history.
And we want to hear from you.
You'll be able to send in your answers to the questions we ask,
but first, you'll need to text
WYESFIELDTRI069
to 22333,
and you'll be set up to send in your answers.
You can also respond right on your computer
on the page you're watching us right now.
We'll also be answering your questions
throughout this field trip.
E-mail questions to fieldtrips@wyes.org.
But now, let's check out some of the places we'll visit.
We'll start off our adventure right here
at The National World War II Museum
in New Orleans, Louisiana.
This museum tells the story of the American experience
in the war that changed the world --
why it was fought, how it was won, and what it means today.
Next, we're traveling over 4,000 miles from New Orleans
to the beautiful islands of Hawaii.
Hawaii is made up of eight volcanic islands.
The big island is called Hawaii,
but the island we're going to be talking about is Oahu,
where the geography creates a great natural port for ships.
Hawaii's position in the middle of the Pacific Ocean
made it a perfect location for US military bases,
providing protection for our country
and protecting American power across the world.
The main military base?
You guessed it. Pearl Harbor.
To help us explore the attack on Pearl Harbor,
let me introduce you to our two student reporters,
Julia in Hawaii, and Eliana here at the museum in New Orleans.
-Hi. I'm Julia at Pearl Harbor on the island of Oahu in Hawaii,
which is where I live and go to school.
I'm going to show you this historic site
and others around the island in just a few minutes.
-I'm Eliana at The National World War II Museum
in New Orleans, where we will explore
fascinating exhibits and artifacts.
-In addition to providing an in-depth look at artifacts
and historic sites, Julia and Eliana
are going to bring you to the scene of the attack
and talk to people who experienced it,
including some who were kids around your age
on December 7, 1941.
They are also in charge of helping us
answer those four important questions --
Why did Japan attack Pearl Harbor,
how did Japan attack Pearl Harbor,
what happened after the attack,
and where can we learn more about the attack today?
But they can't do it alone.
We'll need your input, too, so be sure to text and E-mail.
You'll also have a chance to vote
on what you'd like to explore
both at the museum and in Hawaii.
Right now, let's introduce the first poll question.
It's about a vocabulary word
we're going to be seeing several times today.
What does the term "propaganda" mean --
"A," a traditional tall Japanese building,
"B," techniques for influencing someone's beliefs and behaviors,
"C," a way to make seeds grow more food,
or, "D," an opera about a singing panda?
We'll check your responses in a few minutes.
Now, let's turn it over to Eliana,
who is at the museum to answer the question,
why did Japan attack Pearl Harbor?
♪♪
-Hi, again. I'm Eliana.
I'm at the museum's newest exhibit,
The Road to Tokyo, to find out why Japan attacked Pearl Harbor.
With me is Museum Educator Chrissy Gregg.
-Hey, Eliana. Thank you so much for being here with me today
at the museum to learn a bit about this infamous day
and how it impacted this entire world.
Now, of course, we call World War II
"World War II" for a reason,
and this is because conflicts spanned
across this entire globe.
And so, of course, I had to bring a giant globe with me
to learn a little bit more about the geography of the war.
Now, what we see on the globe right now,
it's Asia and the South Pacific.
So, there's some countries we recognize today.
We see China, Thailand, how about the Philippines?
We see Indonesia, and, of course,
we see our main topic today, Japan.
Now, if we go back 75-plus years ago,
Japan wanted to become a more powerful country,
but there were certain resources that they didn't have
that prevented them from doing that.
Look, it's a small country.
But if we see here, they were looking all across
the rest of Asia and the Pacific,
and they saw some of these abundant resources they wanted.
How could they get those resources, do you think?
-Trade? -Yeah. They could trade.
That was one way, but they also could do something else --
invade these places where they saw all of these resources.
So, what I have here are actually flags --
flags of what country?
-Japan. -Exactly.
And so, what we're going to be doing is placing those flags
in the areas Japan invaded.
So, first off, let's stick one on Manchuria up here.
That was in 1931.
Next, Japan invades China in 1937.
And then stick one down here.
This is French Indochina.
But you know what, we actually haven't talked about
all these other flags on the map.
Do you recognize any flags of these countries here?
-British, French, even the US. -Yeah.
Even the United States, and, actually, we see
a Dutch flag down here, a Portuguese flag up here.
You probably know that all of these countries
are thousands of miles away from this area of the world,
and actually these countries own territories in this part of Asia
and the Pacific,
and so, as they see Japan moving in,
they think Japan is invading,
taking over their territory.
Japan says, "We're not invading. We're not conquering.
What we're doing instead is freeing
all of these territories from Western control."
-So what does this have to do with Hawaii?
-Ah, good question. All right.
You see where we've stuck the US flag right here?
What country is that? -The Philippines.
-Yeah. That is the Philippines,
which, of course, is a country today,
but back then it was a US territory.
So, the United States sees Japan invading,
and they're thinking maybe the Philippines is going to be next,
so the US decides to do certain things
to help try to prevent that, at least,
and so, to actually demonstrate that, we got to turn our globe.
All right. So, let's turn it to the United States.
Very good.
The US decides to move its navy,
which is actually stationed in San Diego, California,
and they move it all the way over here,
which is where exactly?
-To our ships in Pearl Harbor. -Yeah.
The ships move to Pearl Harbor, Hawaii.
And so Japan sees that as,
"Oh, maybe the US is interfering in our plans,"
so what they decide to do is plan a secret, surprise attack.
Where do you think that was going to be?
-Our ships at Pearl Harbor? -Exactly.
-Actually, that's where my friend Julia is right now.
Her assignment is to find out how Japan attacked Pearl Harbor.
Our jobs are to report to each other what we've learned.
I'll text her.
♪♪
-It looks like Eliana is sharing some details
with Julia right now,
and it looks like we've answered our first question --
Why did the Japanese attack Pearl Harbor?
To stop US interference in its plans to conquer East Asia.
Let's check on the answers to our very first poll question,
and you voted overwhelmingly, 86%, that propaganda
is a tool to influence beliefs and behaviors.
Right now, I am joined by Kenneth Hoffman,
Director of Education at the museum,
and it looks like he's holding a piece of Japanese propaganda
to share with us.
Welcome, Kenneth. -Oh, well, hi, Tom.
This is a reproduction, or a copy,
of a piece of Japanese propaganda aimed at children,
and you can see it shows a map here of East Asia,
and there's Japan,
and all these children are marching happily together,
and they're led by a little Japanese boy,
and it's to show that Japan is leading all the Asian children,
from the Philippines and Burma and Vietnam,
and they're all happy being led by Japan,
because that's what Japan wanted the world to believe.
-Powerful propaganda, but powerful images
don't always mean they're the truth.
Right now, let's take a look at some student questions
we received so far.
Kenneth, we have a question from Joey D.
in Ames, Iowa.
"Why did Japan want to take over the United States?"
-Well Joey, actually -- Thanks for the question, first of all.
Japan did not want to take over the United States.
The United States was very far away from Japan,
and they really had no reason to want to do that.
They didn't think they could.
They wanted to stop the United States
from interfering with their plans in Asia and the Pacific,
so they figured, if they knock out our ships at Pearl Harbor,
then the United States won't be able
to mess up their plans further over in Asia.
-We have one more question from a viewer, and that is,
"Why was Japan on the side of Germany in World War II?"
That's from Molly in Baton Rouge.
-Well, thanks, Molly, for that question.
Japan and Germany had some things in common
back in the 1930s and the early 1940s.
In Germany, a lot of the people, a lot of the Germans,
especially the Nazis, felt that the Germans
were the best kind of Europeans
and therefore they had the right
to take over other countries.
In Asia, a lot of people in Japan at that time
in the government and in the military
felt that the Japanese people
were the best kind of Asian people
and they had the right to take over other Asian countries.
So, because they had those similar ideas,
they were partners during the war.
-Thanks for that answer, Kenneth.
Keep the questions coming.
In our next poll, you, our student viewers,
will be voting on where our story takes us next.
In a minute, Julia, who is in Hawaii,
will be trying to answer the question,
how did the Japanese attack Pearl Harbor?
But the question for you is, do you want to see,
"A," a fully restored Japanese fighter plane from 1941,
or, "B," the wreckage of a Japanese fighter plane
that crashed during the attack?
Text or click "A" or "B."
You only have about a minute to vote,
so enter your decision now.
And with that, let's see what Julia is up to in Hawaii.
♪♪
-Hi. I'm here at Pearl Harbor with Mr. Jimmy Lee,
who was an 11-year-old boy
when the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor.
He is going to help me explore the sights around Oahu
to answer our next question,
how did the Japanese attack Pearl Harbor?
-Well, let me tell you.
When I was living here,
all I know is that the planes came over the tree top.
You know, being an 11-year-old kid,
hey, that was something.
That was really something.
And today, when you look at this place here,
I mean, it's nice and calm,
but, you know, 75 years ago, let me tell you, this was --
heck, I mean, with the planes coming in, the bombing,
the fire, the smoke, the gunfire,
that was really something.
-So, it sounds like what you witnessed really stuck with you.
What was Hawaii like before the attack?
-Well, you know, before the attack,
there was a lot of planes,
you know, like an everyday thing.
You know, we have maneuvers,
and we had ships going in and out of there.
We think nothing like that.
And then, when it happened, oh, I tell you,
I was so curious, I just ran out
and, you know, took a look
and saw what the attack was like.
There's more I want to show you after a while
when we get over to the other areas.
See that island in the middle of the harbor?
That's Ford Island.
The United States Navy found that island
to be the perfect place to tie up its big battleship.
I think that's a good place to start our exploration.
Julia, we're now at the Pacific Aviation Museum, Pearl Harbor,
and we'll be joined by the museum educator, Ford Ebesugawa.
-Hi. -Hi.
My friend Eliana back at The National World War II Museum
learned all about why the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor,
so I'm supposed to find out how.
-Well, you've come to the right place,
but we have to start before December 7th.
The planning in Japan for the attack
occurred months in advance,
so why don't we learn more about the Japanese strategy?
-On November 26, 1941, six aircraft carriers left Japan,
taking a route across the northern Pacific,
headed for Hawaii
and the United States Pacific Fleet anchored there.
By December 7th, the Japanese attack force
was about 230 miles northwest of Hawaii.
It was a Sunday morning when their attack began.
Soon after sunrise, the first wave of Japanese planes
took off from the decks of their aircraft carriers
to begin their attack on Pearl Harbor.
Many US servicemen and residents on Oahu
were just starting their day
when the attack began without warning.
You guys voted on what you wanted to see
to tell the story further.
Let's check out what you selected.
♪♪
So, it looks like the students chose
the Japanese wreckage Zero.
Could you tell us what kind of plane this, well, was?
-Well, this is a Mitsubishi Zero.
Again, it was a fighter aircraft.
This Zero was piloted
by Airman First Class Shigenori Nishikaichi,
and Nishikaichi's responsibility that Sunday morning
was to provide fighter cover and strafing attacks.
Apparently, Nishikaichi's aircraft
was struck by ground fire,
and he began losing fuel.
In fact, he began losing fuel at such a rate,
he realized that he could not fly back to his carrier,
which was over 250 miles north of the island.
So Nishikaichi elected to crash-land
on the tiny Hawaiian island called Niihau.
-Did the pilot survive? -Nishikaichi did survive,
and the native Hawaiian islanders
that resided on the island,
they had no idea what had just happened at Pearl Harbor,
so they assumed that Nishikaichi was just a wayward pilot
that just happened to crash-land on their island,
so when they helped him out of that aircraft,
they literally treated him as a guest.
In fact, they held a luau for him that evening.
-Wow. -Oh, wow.
-So what did he do with the plane afterwards
that it looks like this?
-Well, because the Japanese Zero
was a top-secret aircraft,
he did not want the aircraft to fall into enemy hands,
the Americans,
so Nishikaichi attempted to burn the aircraft.
-Wow. -After a few days later,
some of the Hawaiian islanders
were able to pick up on the radio
what exactly happened at Pearl Harbor,
so they kind of put two and two together
and kind of figured Nishikaichi must be an enemy pilot,
so they put him under guard,
but Nishikaichi was able to obtain a handgun,
and he literally tried to take over the island.
And one of the Hawaiian islanders
that he attempted to take hostage
defended himself and ultimately killed Nishikaichi.
-Wow. -And military historians
believe that this was one of the first land engagements
between the United States and Japan on American soil.
-So, Jimmy, do you remember seeing
any of these kind of planes flying overhead?
-Oh, yes. Sure did.
But, you know, let's go outside where we can explain
and see it a little better.
-So, Hangar 79 was damaged during the attack
and is now part of the Pacific Aviation Museum.
Could you tell us a little about it?
-Yeah. You're correct.
In fact, if you look on the hangar windows there,
it still bears the scars of that December 7th morning --
the bullet holes in the windows.
-Mm-hmm. -Hangar 79, at the time
of the attack, was a maintenance and engine-repair facility,
so you can pretty much imagine
this hangar was probably filled with aircraft
that were based out of Pearl Harbor at the time.
But rather than hear me talk, why don't we go inside,
and let's meet somebody that was actually here on the attack.
-Okay.
I'm so honored to be with all of you today.
Thank you. -Yeah.
Let me introduce these distinguished gentlemen.
On my immediate left is Eddie Young,
Ian Bernie, and Dick Girocco.
-So, how did you guys feel when you saw
all the planes flying overhead or the ships on fire?
Like, how did that stick with you?
-I was 6 1/2 and had just started first grade,
and I was out playing in the yard that Sunday morning,
and I saw some airplanes,
and we had never seen an airplane where we lived.
My father was concerned when he heard shells nearby,
so he pushed me back in the house,
and we listened to our old Philco tabletop radio,
and there was a local radio personality
named Webley Edwards who kept repeating,
"This is the real McCoy. We are under attack.
This is the real McCoy."
-It was a beautiful Sunday morning,
and I got out of my house
and grabbed my old hand-me-down bicycle,
and I looked out in the sky, and all of a sudden,
I saw this Japanese Zero flying overhead.
And my neighbor was next to me. I nudged him.
And he was about 23 years old.
I was 9, and I told him,
"Mr. Bellamy, that's a Japanese Zero."
Because we draw planes at school, I know that's a Zero,
and he said, "No, that's one of ours, Eddie,"
and finally, he looked up,
and he saw the Rising Sun under the wings.
And later, as I looked toward Pearl Harbor,
when the Zero passed over, he went to Pearl,
and I saw all the flak in the air,
so I knew this was the real thing.
In a few minutes, I saw a big plume of smoke go up.
It went up 200 feet.
It was not black. It was red.
That was the Arizona, and, eventually, it turned black.
-How about you? How did you feel?
-Well, to begin with, I was in the Navy,
and I was in a squadron of PBY Catalina flying boats.
We were based here on Ford Island in Hangar 54,
which is the next one over from this one.
What got our attention first was the noise the dive bombers
were making coming down on our seaplane ramp,
and we thought it was the Army Air Corps playing tricks on us.
They used to come by on occasion and dive bomb us
and drop flour sacks on us,
so we all run out the front of the hangar and looked up.
Didn't realize instantly that they were Japanese.
Of course, when they released their bombs,
they didn't look like flour sacks,
and, of course, when they pulled out of their dives,
you could see the red circle on the wings.
Then it was a matter of self-preservation.
Get under cover somewhere.
And there was no cover at all, so as luck would have it,
they were putting a pipeline of some sort in out here
between the hangars and the runway,
and they hadn't put the pipe in it yet,
so we all got in that,
and, basically, we were practically underground.
So, basically, what I remember the most was the noise
and the concussions.
After about an hour, everything stopped.
Second wave come over after about 15, 20 minutes,
so when that happened, back in the ditch for another hour.
-So, was there any moment during that morning
when you really realized
that your life was going to be different?
-When nightfall came,
then everyone in the neighborhood
was shaking and being afraid that we don't know
whether they landed troops or not,
and there were rumors about troopers
going up to the reservoir
and putting poison in the water,
so everybody started filling their bathtubs
with drinking water.
-We were out of school for a couple of weeks,
and I still have an ID issued by the territory
on January 7, 1942,
which coincides with when I was fingerprinted
and given an ID and issued a gas mask.
And I carried that gas mask throughout the war.
-So, thank you all so much for sharing your stories with me,
and thank you for your service to the country.
-You're very welcome.
♪♪
-Julia, this is another beautiful spot on Pearl Harbor
where we can learn of the attack in Oahu.
Right here is the Battleship Missouri Memorial,
and out there in the harbor is the USS Arizona Memorial.
Under that memorial is the sunken remains
of the Arizona and her men.
75 years ago,
this area on Ford Island was called Battleship Row,
where US battleships were lined up
on the morning of December 7th.
-Battleship Row was one of the Japanese pilots'
primary targets.
Some dropped specially designed torpedoes
that tore huge holes into ships below the water line.
Some dropped bombs onto the decks of the ships,
producing giant explosions.
The US sailors headed to their battle stations
in a brave effort to down Japanese planes,
but did little damage to the enemy.
By the time the attack was over, all eight US battleships
were either heavily damaged or sunk...
-♪ Long may our land be bright ♪
-...and more than 2,400 servicemen,
mostly US Navy sailors, had been killed.
A further 1,200 people were wounded.
-The deadliest attack that day came when a 1,760-pound bomb
was dropped onto the deck of the USS Arizona.
It struck the ship's magazine,
where the Arizona's ammunition was stored.
A massive explosion ripped through the forward part
of the ship and created a huge fire ball,
killing 1,177 of the crew onboard.
Half of the loss of life at Pearl Harbor
on December 7, 1941, came on the Arizona.
-Wow. That is so sad.
This place is so beautiful.
I can't even imagine all that destruction
happening 75 years ago.
Did the Japanese attack anywhere else that day?
-Oh, yes. Not only over Pearl Harbor, but over at Hickam.
And as I looked up towards the mountainside up there,
planes were attacking there, too.
And in front of me, you know,
they were attacking up there in a place called Ewa,
and, of course, on the other side of the island,
several other bases were hit, too.
-The explosion from the USS Arizona was huge.
Could you see it from where you were?
-Oh, yes. I could see it real clearly, and I tell you,
it was something that you'll never forget.
But, you know, when we get to the other side,
we can go somewhere else, and I can show you a better view.
You know, here in this fish pond, this is where I grew up.
-So, what were you doing up here on the morning of the attack?
-You know, I grew up on a farm right here,
and that morning, I was feeding the pigs.
That's my job.
Look at that coconut tree. See how high it is?
Well, that plane just came over our pig pen just that high.
When I looked up there, there were hundreds of planes,
you know, flying, and it was so fascinating to me.
I never saw so many planes in all my life.
-So, were you scared when you realized
that it wasn't a show
and that it was Hawaii being under attack?
-No. Was I scared?
The answer is no.
It was exciting.
It was so interesting.
-So, did you and your family hide
after they realized it was Japanese?
-Well, you know, we watched for about over an hour and a half,
and that's when the loudspeakers come by and said,
"Hey, we're at war! We've been bombed by the Japanese."
You know what we did?
We took off up into the mountains up there,
up in the valley, hid out in the caves.
Then we came back home, and the attack was over.
Less than three hours, it was over,
and one of the things that happened that afternoon,
of course, was martial law came in effect,
and with martial law, we had curfews,
we had rationing and everything else.
But then, from that day on, it was fear.
-Mm-hmm. -It was fear.
-Although Jimmy was unharmed,
68 civilians were killed during the attack.
Neighborhoods like this one were damaged by enemy fire.
Take this house right across from Wheeler Army Airfield.
An off-target Japanese bomb landed right in their yard.
The attack changed the lives of servicemen and women,
as well as civilians at Pearl Harbor.
I wonder if it had the same effect
on Americans on the mainland?
Let me text Eliana to see if she can find out for me.
♪♪
-We covered a lot in that last segment,
learning how the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor.
It was a surprise attack on December 7, 1941,
by planes that took off from Japanese aircraft carriers.
Let's check out some of your questions right now.
You ready, Kenneth? -I'm ready.
-First question is from students in Abilene, Kansas.
"How long did the attack last?"
-Well, the attack was actually quite short.
A few hours after it began, the whole thing was over.
The Japanese sent two different waves of aircraft
from their aircraft carriers over Oahu to attack --
a first wave, and then they returned,
and then a second wave came, and then they returned.
And by mid-morning, the whole attack was over,
and the Japanese fleet
was already starting to head back to Japan,
leaving the United States to clean up the big mess.
-Two waves that changed the history of the world.
We have one more question for you, Kenneth.
This one is from Josiah in Florida.
"Were any of the destroyed battleships restored?"
-Yes, absolutely.
Josiah, it's a great question.
You know, we didn't have that many extra ships,
and so we had to --
Not only did we start building a lot more ships
to fight the war, both in Europe and in the Pacific,
but we also raised as many ships as we could
that had been damaged or sunk, refitted them,
and then by, you know, a year or two later,
many of the ships were actually put back into service
to help win the war against Japan.
Great question.
-Great question, great answer.
Thank you, Kenneth.
In this next segment, we'll learn more
from Eliana and Julia about what happened
after the Japanese attacked,
both in Hawaii and on the US mainland.
But first, you have another opportunity
to vote on what you'd like to see.
Eliana will be examining
United States' propaganda posters
during this next segment.
Do you want her to check out,
"A," the poster with the American flag,
or, "B," the Avenge December 7th poster?
Text the letter "A" or "B" for your choice.
You only have about a minute to vote,
so enter your decision now.
And let's see where Eliana is now in the museum.
♪♪
-I'm back in New Orleans
at The National World War II Museum
in the Road to Tokyo galleries.
Here, we're looking at some artifacts
Ms. Chrissy pulled from the vault.
Now, Julia told me that the attack devastated Hawaii,
but did it have a larger effect on the United States?
-Eliana, that's a fantastic question,
and as you probably guessed, it definitely did.
This infamous day was felt by many Americans
all across this country.
They were listening to, you know,
their regularly scheduled program
on these radio broadcasts,
and this news interrupts that radio broadcast.
Or, as we actually even see here,
these are some artifacts, indeed, from our vault.
And these are all major headlines that day
about Japan attacking the United States
and the US now at war.
So, here closest to you, we see a newspaper from Chicago.
Next to me is actually a newspaper from a small town --
Hattiesburg, Mississippi.
And, of course, in the center here
is a newspaper from New Orleans declaring that war.
So, something that Americans felt all across this country,
that this day of infamy would live with many of them
for the rest of their life.
-Now, you say "day of infamy" a lot,
and we've heard it several times,
so what does "infamy" mean?
-Ah, see, that's another really great question,
and we actually have used it quite a bit, haven't we?
Infamy means being famous for a negative reason.
And it's a great word because it's the same word
that our President, Franklin Delano Roosevelt,
uses in a famous speech
the day after the attack on Pearl Harbor.
And in that speech, he is asking Congress
to declare war on Japan.
And, actually, on the other side of you,
we have a copy of that speech.
Now, it's not the final speech.
You can see there's some edits to it from Roosevelt himself.
But can you look there and see --
What's the first sentence on there?
What does it say?
It says "Yesterday, December 7, 1941,
a date which will live in world history."
-"World history."
And then, you can see above, though,
he scratched out "world history" and wrote "infamy."
So, why do you think he would change his words?
-Well, he knew it was a speech
that was important in American history,
so he wanted to get his point across,
kind of like the Lincoln's Gettysburg Address.
-Exactly.
Going to war was a big step for our country.
Thousands of people were killed in a surprise attack,
a truly terrible act.
Calling Japan's attack "infamous"
set the tone for his request,
and it proved to be true.
Congress almost unanimously declared war on Japan.
-Now, at the end of 1941,
America was finally dragged into the world war
that China and Japan had been fighting since 1937,
and much of Europe had been in since 1939.
In the days after the attack,
thousands of Americans joined the fight,
signing up at recruiting centers across the country.
Three days later, Germany and Italy,
who were allied with Japan,
declared war on the United States.
For the next three-and-a-half years,
the US would be committed
to fighting and winning this global conflict.
I see more posters.
-Exactly.
Yeah, I actually pulled some earlier from our vault.
Earlier in the electronic field trip,
our audience voted on what the meaning of "propaganda" was.
Do you remember that meaning?
-Propaganda is a tool used to convince or persuade people
to act or believe in a certain way.
Okay, you guys voted on which Pearl Harbor posters
you wanted to see.
Let's see how you voted.
♪♪
Well, it looks like the students chose option "B."
-Oh, perfect.
This is another great propaganda poster.
And, actually, you know what?
I'm gonna take the backseat here
and let you be the historian.
Tell me what you see in that poster there.
-Well, it's very dark and dramatic,
and there seems to be a sailor with his fist up
like he's charging forward.
And I think that's the USS Arizona exploding in the back.
-That's actually exactly right.
And notice, if you take a closer look at that sailor there,
his sleeve is all tattered.
What do you think that might mean?
-Well, it could mean that he might have been in the attack,
and he looks very determined.
-Yeah, very good. I think you're exactly right.
Now, there's another really good vocabulary term
in that poster.
It says "Avenge December 7."
What do you think "avenge" means?
-Well, "avenge" kind of sounds like "revenge,"
so it could mean that the US was getting back at Japan
for the attack on Pearl Harbor.
-Exactly. Man, I couldn't analyze it any better myself.
Great job, Eliana.
-So, I hear a lot of "avenge" and "remember."
-Yeah, you're exactly right to pick up on that.
That was a common theme after the attack on Pearl Harbor.
Posters actually like the one that we just analyzed
were spread across towns, communities, and cities
all throughout World War II.
And you know what? It wasn't just posters.
I actually have some other great artifacts here
from the museum's vault that say --
you probably guessed it -- "Remember Pearl Harbor."
So, as you can see here,
we've got this really neat comic book
that says "Remember Pearl Harbor,"
with Uncle Sam charging at Japan.
There were also buttons and pins and trinkets.
And so, these sweetheart pins, which are actually pins
given by those loved ones far away from home, at the war,
they would send these to their loved ones
here on the home front, saying, "I remember you,"
and "I miss you," and "I'm thinking about you."
And so, the common themes with those is
remember Pearl Harbor, never forget.
And you can see some of them are pretty elaborate
and pretty beautiful.
-Wow, if the response was this great on the mainland,
I wonder what it was like back in Hawaii.
Let's see what Julia's up to.
[ Cellphones chirping ]
♪♪
-Right now, I'm at Theodore Roosevelt High School
on Oahu with Jimmy.
Roosevelt High was here 75 years ago,
and the place changed a lot in the months after the attack.
Check this out.
Many seniors in the high school joined the military.
Several students who went to Roosevelt
were even killed during World War II.
They are honored with this plaque in front of the school.
Their names are read by students to this day.
So, Jimmy, when did you return to school after the attack,
and how did school life change?
-You know, I was not at this school before,
but I went to a school called Aiea,
and that's near my home.
But, you know, right after the attack, the school was closed.
It was used for a hospital.
-Wow.
-And therefore, I'm not sure exactly
when I went back to school, but it was a long time.
But during that time, you know, with martial law,
I mean, we just lived in fear.
And, you know, the military took control.
And we had blackouts, we had rationing,
we had censorship.
And all the things that we used to do,
you know, whether it was right, wrong, or indifferent,
we had to do things the military way,
and we lived like that for three years.
-Wow.
-You know, like going into the waters.
And that was a violation.
Every time I did that, I got arrested.
Martial law was really something that disciplined us.
We could not say anything.
-The military took over
parts of the school's administration building,
the athletic fields, and the backyard.
The school was even surrounded by barbed-wire barricades.
Students supported the war effort
and joined the Victory Corps,
a club that gathered scrap materials and sold war bonds
to help pay for the war.
-You know, Julia, the students here were so patriotic.
And, you know, this school here,
the student, they raised almost -- over $160,000...
-Wow. -...buying war bonds and stamps
and working in the pineapple fields.
-So, schools, especially here in Hawaii,
dramatically changed after the attack.
Not only did their physical appearance alter,
with barbed wire and barricades,
but the students helped the war effort
in ways that they could.
Many even enlisted in the Army, Navy, and Marine Corps,
some never coming back from the battlefronts.
♪♪
-Eliana and Julia, thanks for your reporting.
You answered our third question,
of what happened after the attack.
The United States officially entered World War II,
which would change the lives of many Americans,
including students.
So, Kenneth, there was fear in the country
that there would be continued attacks
or possibly even an invasion of the Japanese on Hawaii?
-Yeah, there was a fear
that the Japanese might return to attack Hawaii.
There was even fear of an attack on the mainland.
Let me ask you a question.
-Go ahead. -Do you know
where the Rose Bowl football game
is played every year?
-Pasadena, California.
-But not in 1942.
-What? -It was not.
Because of a fear of a Japanese attack on the West Coast,
the government banned all large-scale public events.
And the Rose Bowl was one of those public events.
And so, in 19-- So, I'll tell you what.
I have a copy...
-How could you have a ticket? -...of a ticket here.
-Wait, how could you have a ticket?
The game was banned.
-Well -- Well...
Well, I'll tell you what. This is kind of small.
Let me get my larger prop here.
Here's an enlargement of this ticket.
And you will see that it says
that the game is transferred this year
to Durham, North Carolina,
from Pasadena Rose Bowl in California.
So, the game was moved from the West Coast
all the way to the East Coast
just to avoid a possible attack by the Japanese.
And it was moved to Durham
because Duke University was in it.
They were playing Oregon State.
-Oregon State.
-Now, I'm not gonna tell you who won.
You'll have to look it up.
-But don't look it up right now, eager beavers.
We've got to take some audience questions.
Kenneth, are you ready?
-I'm ready. I'm ready. -Okay, here we go.
"Did Japan attack Hawaii again during the war?"
-Japan did not attack Hawaii again during the war.
Of course, Pearl Harbor was the surprise attack,
but once we were in the war, our -- We were set.
We knew, we kept a watch out all the time,
and we made sure that Hawaii was not attacked again.
And the Japanese never got so far toward the United States
that they were able to launch a major attack.
There were a couple of small, little attacks
on the West Coast -- tiny things -- but nothing major.
-But that fear lasted throughout the entire war.
-The fear definitely lasted throughout the entire war,
with some important consequences.
-Let's take another question.
"How were Japanese American citizens treated
after Pearl Harbor?"
That's from Matthew Lee.
-Well, Matthew, that's what I was just about to talk about.
The fear of the Japanese led to the United States
putting over 110,000 Japanese and Japanese Americans
who lived on the West Coast in California, Oregon,
and Washington state,
putting them into internment camps
throughout the rest of the war
because of fear
that they wouldn't be loyal to the United States
and they would help Japan.
So, now, many decades later,
the United States actually apologized for that move
because we violated their civil rights.
There was never any proof
that they were disloyal to the United States.
And so, when we study history,
we study about all the great things the United States did,
but we also have to look
at some of the mistakes we've made in the past.
-A mistake that they owned up to.
-Exactly.
-Let's take one more question.
"How did people in the United States
help out the war effort after the attack?"
And that's from Sophie in Kenner, Louisiana.
-So, Sophie, thanks so much.
Not too far from the museum, in Kenner, Louisiana.
Well, you heard Jimmy Lee talk about
how the kid at the schools would go scrapping.
And today, you do the same, but you recycle.
It's the same thing,
but scrapping was to collect things for the war effort.
And so, kids your age, after school,
would go around their neighborhood
and collect tires, old rubber things, old metal things,
and they would turn them in to be melted down
and turned into things for the war effort.
So, that's one way people helped.
Another way is they bought war bonds,
and that was giving the government money
to pay for the war.
And the government would promise to pay you back after the war
with a little extra.
So, it was an investment in victory
and an investment for yourself.
-There was war going on in the battlefront,
but also victory was helped on the home front
here at home in the United States.
-We're all in this together.
That was the phrase of the day.
-Very good. Thank you, Kenneth.
As we near the end of our program,
we have one more poll question for you.
We've discussed the why and how the attack occurred
and what happened afterwards.
Our next question is, how can we remember Pearl Harbor,
and where can we go to learn more?
"A," at The National World War II Museum
in New Orleans,
"B," at the historical sites and museums
around beautiful Oahu,
"C," from listening to the stories of people
who were actually there,
or, "D," all of the above?
Let's see how Julie and Eliana answer our last question.
♪♪
-We have visited several locations
to tell the story of Pearl Harbor.
Now there's only two more that we need to see.
We are here at National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific,
known as Punchbowl.
It is one of the most beautiful spots in Oahu,
situated in an ancient volcanic crater
high above Hawaii's capital, Honolulu.
-We're now, you know, near the graves
of Ensign Lewis Stockdale, as well as Chief Vernon Luke.
Both men died on December 7, 1941,
with 427 other sailors
when the battleship USS Oklahoma was torpedoed
and sank in the harbor.
Their remains were brought here
and buried in graves marked "Unknown."
-But I don't understand.
These graves have names on them.
How did they identify them?
-Well, just recently, they were able to identify them
through the DNA process.
The Defense POW/MIA Accountability Agency
believes that 80% of the unknown remains
from the USS Oklahoma can be identified
within five years.
Lewis' and Vernon's families
chose to have them reburied at Punchbowl
with their own graves.
Even 75 years after the attack,
we're learning and making new history
about that infamous day.
-So, why do you think it's important
that we remember these victims from so long ago?
-Oh, it's very important that we do,
because we've got to remember the names
of all those people that sacrificed their lives
during World War II.
You know, Julia, there's one more place
that we've got to go.
You know, we saw it at a distance the other day,
but we've got to visit the USS Arizona Memorial.
[ Trumpets playing ]
♪♪
-In 1962, 21 years after the attack,
a memorial was built on top of the sunken USS Arizona.
The remains of approximately 900 sailors still rest inside.
More than a million people from around the world
visit this site every year, many of them from Japan,
to pay their respects to those who died in the attack
and to learn more about World War II history.
You know this is a special place for reflection and contemplation
as soon as you step onto the platform.
The ship is visible while standing on the memorial,
and oil still leaks from the ship to this day.
The shrine marks and remembers the 1,177 servicemen
lost on the ship on that day of infamy.
♪♪
-Here at The National World War II Museum in New Orleans,
I learned that the attack on Pearl Harbor
stayed in the memories
with all the Americans throughout the war,
and inspired many to do their part
on the homefront and battlefront.
In World War II, the United States
faced a tough adversary in Japan.
From Pearl Harbor to the end of the war in August 1945,
the United States fought the Japanese in dense jungles,
on barren islands, on the sea, under the sea,
and in the air, all the way to Japan's doorstep.
That doesn't even include
the fighting in Europe against Germany.
-The attack on Pearl Harbor united our country
and spurred the United States
to fully join this global struggle.
It was a total war for many nations
and a conflict that would change the world.
Including the 2,400 who died
during the attack on Pearl Harbor,
more then 400,000 Americans
would make the ultimate sacrifice
during the course of the war.
In total, an estimated 65 million people
died in World War II,
making it the deadliest conflict in all of human history.
-The outcome of the war still echoes in our world today.
-We pay tribute to those sacrifices that the Americans made
and to the lives that were lost.
-And so, today, 75 years later, we remember Pearl Harbor
because it is an important part of our American history.
♪♪
-Thank you, Eliana and Julia. Great reporting.
And a big "mahalo" to you, Mr. Jimmy Lee, an amazing man.
Now let's take a look at our last poll results.
Just about everyone got it right.
There are many places
to continue learning about Pearl Harbor.
And as we wrap up this show,
Kenneth is gonna tell you about one more way
to learn about Pearl Harbor.
-Well, to commemorate this day in history,
The National World War II Museum
is kicking off a national reading
of the award-winning young-adult historical novel
"Under the Blood-Red Sun" by Graham Salisbury.
The book tells the story
of 13-year-old Japanese-American Tomikazu
and his best friend, Billy,
growing up on Oahu in the 1940s.
Tomi and Billy's world turns upside-down
as they witness the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor.
It's a powerful story
that will definitely capture your attention.
Our website
www.pearl75.org/ electronic-field-trip
has information on how to get copies of the book.
Once your whole class has read it,
contact the museum, and we'll send your teacher
a commemorative Remember Pearl Harbor classroom poster.
-A great read for all ages.
Thank you all for being part of this electronic field trip.
And we want to send a special thank you
to our fellow PBS member station PBS Hawaii
for helping us bring the historical sites
of Pearl Harbor to you.
Today, by remembering Pearl Harbor,
we mark not only the sacrifices made on this day 75 years ago,
we mark the price of freedom.
From The National World War II Museum in New Orleans,
I'm Tom Gregory.
Thank you for joining us.
♪♪
-The electronic field trip "Remember Pearl Harbor:
How Students Like You Experienced The Day Of Infamy"
is made possible by Lillian and Jimmy Maurin
with additional funding by
The Joe W. and Dorothy Dorsett Brown Foundation
and by The Dudley and Constance Godfrey Foundation
and The Dale E. and Janice Davis Johnston Family Foundation.
♪♪