Frontispiece quote is from The Complete Works of Samuel Taylor Coleridge, ed. by Professor W. G. T. Shedd (New York: Harper & Brothers, 1884), p. 380.
Prologue: The Awakening
The origin of the Yamamoto quote at the beginning of the chapter is obscure. The quote was first used in the film Tora! Tora! Tora! It appears that Darryl Zanuck and Elmo Williams from Twentieth Century-Fox insisted on a wrap-up scene with Yamamoto making a speech. The screenwriter, Larry Forrester, came up with the quote. Williams spoke with Forrester about the source of the quote, and Forrester said it was from a letter written by Yamamoto. Forrester died in Northridge, California, in 1968, and the source apparently died with him. There is no verifiable written source for the quote. Akira Iriye, professor of history at Harvard University, said, “Whether Yamamoto ever uttered the words, we never know. . . . In any event, what he does say in the movie becomes truth.” This research is from Hiroshi Tasogawa, All the Emperor’s Men: Kurosawa’s Pearl Harbor (Atlanta: Applause, 2012).
The account of Roosevelt dictating his speech to his secretary is noted by Nathan Miller, FDR: An Intimate History (New York: Doubleday, 1983), p. 477.
The original draft of the “Date of Infamy Speech” resides in the Grace Tully Archive, Franklin Delano Roosevelt Presidential Library and Museum, Hyde Park, New York. Franklin D. Roosevelt, “To the Congress of the United States,” The White House, December 8, 1941.
You can see black-and-white footage of FDR’s speech in its entirety on YouTube: “Periscope Film LLC: FDR Declares War (12/8/41).”
The background and atmosphere of President Roosevelt’s speech are chronicled in Craig Shirley, “The Eighth of December,” in December 1941: 31 Days that Changed America and Saved the World (Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson, 2011), pp. 154–82.
The one dissenting vote in the House was cast by pacifist Jeannette Rankin, from Montana, who had also voted no on the Declaration of War in 1917. Following the vote, she told reporters, “As a woman I can’t go to war and I refuse to send anyone else.” Rankin was ridiculed for her vote and eventually pressured out of office by her peers. Shirley, December 1941, pp. 169, 170.
I have listed a handful of names of the men who served with me on the USS Arizona. For a complete list, see T. J. Cooper, The USS Arizona Men: 75th Anniversary (published by the author, February 6, 2016).
The story of my shipmate John Evans was from an interview with him conducted February 25, 1998, by John Chalkley, Grapevine, Texas, University of North Texas, Oral History Collection, No. 1220, p. 6.
1: A Child of the Depression
The quote at the beginning of the chapter is from John Steinbeck, The Grapes of Wrath (New York: Viking Books, 1939), p. 3.
The quote about the woman from my hometown of Invale was from Timothy Egan, The Worst Hard Time (New York: Houghton Miflin Company, 2006), pp. 2-3.
The diary entries are from Timothy Egan, The Worst Hard Time (New York: Houghton Miflin Company, 2006), pp. 296-297.
The writings about how the depression affected farmers in Webster County, Nebraska, where I am from, are from Donald Hartwell’s unpublished diary, which is on file at the Nebraska State Historical Society, Lincoln, Nebraska.
2: To Sea on the Arizona
The quote at the beginning of the chapter is from Molly Kent, USS Arizona’s Last Band (Kansas City, KS: Silent Song, 1996), p. 5.
The story about Joe George’s fight and subsequent court-martial is from an interview with Joe George, August 5, 1978, by Ronald E. Marcello in Little Rock, Arkansas, North Texas State University, Oral History Collection, No. 448, pp. 21–26.
The story of George throwing us a line from the Vestal is corroborated in an interview with Joe George, August 5, 1978, by Ronald E. Marcello in Little Rock, Arkansas, North Texas State University, Oral History Collection, No. 448, pp. 30–31.
Confirmation about the process of holystoning is in Joy Waldron Jasper, James P. Delgado, and Jim Adams, The USS Arizona: The Ship, the Men, the Pearl Harbor Attack, and the Symbol That Aroused America (New York: St. Martin’s Press, 2001), p. 36.
Descriptions of Oahu during 1941 were confirmed by Thurston Clarke, Pearl Harbor Ghosts: The Legacy of December 7, 1941 (New York: Ballantine, 1991), pp. 33–36.
Descriptions of Hotel Street is corroborated by Henry Berry, This Is No Drill: Living Memories of the Attack on Pearl Harbor (New York: Berkeley Books, 1992), pp. 110–11. Also Clarke, Pearl Harbor Ghosts, pp. 83–92.
For a photograph of the “river of white,” and for the only known photograph of some of the ladies of Hotel Street, posing in front of the Senator Hotel, see the book by Rhys Thomas, Hotel Street Harry (Highland Park, Illinois: RCT Publishing, 2016), pp. 8, 10.
For a first-hand account of a sailor on leave at Hotel Street, see the book by Edward C. Raymer, Descent into Darkness: Pearl Harbor, 1941: A Navy Diver’s Memoir (Annapolis, Maryland: Naval Institute Press, 1996), pp. 60-71.
Details about the collision between the Oklahoma and the Arizona were confirmed by Kent, USS Arizona’s Last Band, p. 183.
Eyewitness accounts of the collision between the Oklahoma and the Arizona are from Jasper, Delgado, and Adams, The USS Arizona, pp. 78–81.
The Lahaina incident can be found in Jasper, Delgado, and Adams, The USS Arizona, pp. 82–83.
Information about the repairs that the Vestal was scheduled to perform on the Arizona is confirmed by Kent, USS Arizona’s Last Band, p. 202.
3: The Last Night
The quote at the beginning of the chapter is from the film Casablanca, 1942, Warner Bros., directed by Michael Curtiz.
Details of the various shops on the Vestal were confirmed by one of the sailors on the ship, Frank Dolan, from an interview with him on December 15, 1995, by Ronald E. Marcello in Jacksonville, Texas, North Texas State University, Oral History Collection, No. 1111, pp. 4–5.
The quote by Clarke Beach is from Thurston Clarke, Pearl Harbor Ghosts: The Legacy of December 7, 1941 (New York: Ballantine, 1991), p. 67.
The quote by Frank Knox is from Clarke, Pearl Harbor Ghosts, p. 65.
The complacent mood of the military is noted by Clarke, Pearl Harbor Ghosts, p. 68.
4: December 7th
The quote at the beginning of the chapter is from Gordon W. Prange, At Dawn We Slept: The Untold Story of Pearl Harbor (New York: Penguin Books, 1981), p. 499.
The times are, for the most part, approximations. Everything happened so fast. We were hit so hard from so many directions, and we were all scrambling to fight back that I had no sense of time. It seemed like an eternity, though. I did find a minute-by-minute breakdown of the day that was consistent with my own recollections, only more precise. I varied from it in only a few instances. It can be found in Michael Slackman’s book, Target Pearl Harbor (Honolulu: University of Hawaii Press and Arizona Memorial Museum Association, 1990), pp. 285–95. He notes on page 289, parenthetically—“(all times approximate).”
Slackman received degrees in history from the University of California at Berkeley and San Diego State University. He also worked as a consulting historian for the U.S. Navy and the National Parks Service. He has published extensively on Pearl Harbor, including the books, Remembering Pearl Harbor and Pearl Harbor in Perspective.
I also relied on Gordon W. Prange’s research from his book, At Dawn We Slept: The Untold Story of Pearl Harbor (NY: Penguin Books, 1981). At times when the two sources weren’t odds, I deferred to Prange, who is regarded as the most scholarly authority on Pearl Harbor.
The details for 3:57 A.M. were from Gordon W. Prange, At Dawn We Slept: The Untold Story of Pearl Harbor (New York: Penguin Books, 1981), pp. 495–97.
The details for 5:50 A.M. were from Gordon W. Prange, At Dawn We Slept: The Untold Story of Pearl Harbor (New York: Penguin Books, 1981), p. 490.
The details for 6:10–6:20 A.M. were from Gordon W. Prange, At Dawn We Slept: The Untold Story of Pearl Harbor (New York: Penguin Books, 1981), p. 491.
“Of 185 planes scheduled for the first wave, 183 had taken off—43 fighters, 49 high-level bombers, 51 dive bombers, and 40 torpedo planes. It was the fastest launch on record, marred by the loss of 2 fighters. One crashed on takeoff, but a destroyer quickly rescued the pilot. The second, from Kaga, developed engine trouble and had to be left behind.”
The details for 6:30 A.M. The breakdown of specific ships can be found in Appendix B of Michael Slackman’s book, Target Pearl Harbor (Honolulu: University of Hawaii Press and Arizona Memorial Museum Association, 1990), pp. 304–5. See also p. 22.
The details for 6:45 A.M. are from Gordon W. Prange, At Dawn We Slept: The Untold Story of Pearl Harbor (NY: Penguin Books, 1981), pp. 495–98.
The details for 7:00 A.M. Opana Radar Station and 7:10 A.M. are from Michael Slackman’s book, Target Pearl Harbor (Honolulu: University of Hawaii Press and Arizona Memorial Museum Association, 1990), pp. 73–74.
The details for 7:00 A.M. second wave. The source for the planes in the second wave: Michael Slackman’s book, Target Pearl Harbor (Honolulu: University of Hawaii Press and Arizona Memorial Museum Association, 1990), p. 72.
The quotes about the sighting of a periscope outside of Pearl Harbor is from Prange, At Dawn We Slept, p. 484.
The details about the duties of the band members at their battle stations was provided by Molly Kent, USS Arizona’s Last Band (Kansas City, KS: Silent Song, 1996), pp. 221–22.
The description of twisted parts of metal and parts of bodies raining down after the explosion that sank the ship is confirmed by an interview with Martin Matthews, August 2, 1978, by Ronald E. Marcello in Richardson, Texas, North Texas State University, Oral History Collection, No. 430, pp. 28, 32.
The description of the chaos going on below the port antiaircraft director was from an interview with Clay H. Musick, on May 14, 1976, by Ronald E. Marcello in Austin, Texas, North Texas State University, Oral History Collection, No. 322, “The Spirit of the Arizona,” pp. 11–12.
The description of the burned men on the quarterdecks was from an interview with James Cory on December 21, 1976, by Ronald E. Marcello in Dallas, Texas, North Texas State University, Oral History Collection, No. 358, “The Spirit of the Arizona,” p. 93.
The eyewitness account of the Arizona exploding is from an interview with Martin Matthews, August 2, 1978, by Ronald E. Marcello in Richardson, Texas, North Texas State University, Oral History Collection, No. 430, p. 31.
The details about the debris from the Arizona raining down on other ships in the harbor is from Prange, At Dawn We Slept, p. 514.
The eyewitness account of the debris raining down on our ship is from an interview with Martin Matthews, August 2, 1978, by Ronald E. Marcello in Richardson, Texas, North Texas State University, Oral History Collection, No. 430, p. 32.
The description of the men on the quarterdeck was from an interview with Clay H. Musick, on May 14, 1976, by Ronald E. Marcello in Austin, Texas, North Texas State University, Oral History Collection, No. 322, “The Spirit of the Arizona,” p. 11. The words of Earl Pecotte and Edward Wentzlaff about Lieutenant Commander Fuqua are from Slackman, Remembering Pearl Harbor, p. 121.
Fuqua went on to serve with distinction for the duration of the war on the USS Tuscaloosa, where he served as operations officer for the Seventh Fleet. He helped plan and execute several amphibious landings on the islands of the Philippines and of Borneo. He received the Congressional Medal of Honor for his valor on December 7, 1941. He retired from active service in July 1953. He died on January 27, 1987, and he was buried with full military honors at Arlington National Cemetery. The incident of Don and five of his shipmates being rescued by the line that was tied from the Arizona to the Vestal was documented in Joy Waldron Jasper, James P. Delgado, and Jim Adams, The USS Arizona: The Ship, the Men, the Pearl Harbor Attack, and the Symbol That Aroused America (New York: St. Martin’s Press, 2001), p. 153.
The incident of Don and five of his shipmates being rescued by Joe George was corroborated by an eyewitness on the Vestal, Frank L. Dolan, who was interviewed on August 2, 1978, by Ronald E. Marcello in Richardson, Texas, North Texas State University, Oral History Collection, No. 430, p. 35.
5: The Damage
Confirmation of the death of Admiral Isaac C. Kidd is in Joy Waldron Jasper, James P. Delgado, and Jim Adams, The USS Arizona: The Ship, the Men, the Pearl Harbor Attack, and the Symbol That Aroused America (New York: St. Martin’s Press, 2001), p. 13.
The story of the diver finding his friend is from Henry Berry, “This Is No Drill!”: Living Memories of the Attack on Pearl Harbor (New York: Berkley, 1992), p. 157.
The description of Sterling Cale’s work was found in Thurston Clarke, Pearl Harbor Ghosts: The Legacy of December 7, 1941 (New York: Ballantine, 1991), pp. 134–35.
The experience of one of the divers doing salvage work on the Arizona was found in Berry, “This Is No Drill!,” p. 172.
For a graphic account from a Navy diver assigned the task of recovering bodies from the “Arizona” and other ships in the harbor, see the book by Edward C. Raymer, “Descent into Darkness: Pearl Harbor, 1941: A Navy Diver’s Memoir. Annapolis, Maryland.
6: Among Angels
The quote at the beginning of the chapter is from a report by Navy Medical Department Preparedness, December 1941.
The reference to the boat from the hospital ship Solace rescuing men from the flaming waters around the Arizona was taken from the Annual Sanitary Report from the Base Force, Pacific Fleet, 1941.
The reference about the correlation between the severity of the burns and the amount of the clothing worn is from “Some Observations on the Casualties at Pearl Harbor,” Naval Medical Bulletin, vol. 40, No. 2, pp. 353–58; “The SOLACE in action,” Naval Medical Bulletin, vol. 40, No. 3, pp. 552–57; annual sanitary report for 1941 from the Base Force, Pacific Fleet; medical officer in command of Naval Hospital, Pearl Harbor, to Chief of Bureau of Navigation, 22, Dec. 1941; Ravdin-Long report.
The recollections from Rosella Asbelle came from the U.S. Navy Medical Department Oral History Program. Oral History with Lt. (ret) Rosella Asbelle, NC, USN, conducted by Jan K. Herman, 13 June 2002. Telephonic interview. Office of Medical History Bureau of Medicine and Surgery, 2300 E Street, NW, Washington, D.C. 20372.
The quote about boys becoming men is from Blake Clark, Remember Pearl Harbor (New York: Harper & Brothers, 1942), p. 135.
The figures for those treated at the Naval Hospital came from the Ravdin-Long report, derived from a letter by the medical officer in command of the Naval Hospital, Pearl Harbor, December 19, 1941.
The midnight bed count at the hospital on December 7, 1941, came from a letter from the medical officer in command of the hospital to the commandant of the fourteenth Naval District, December 19, 1941.
The comment about the calmness and courtesy in the hospital is from Clarke, Remember Pearl Harbor, pp. 134–35.
The statement about most of the men experiencing shock in some degree is from a memorandum on Dental Corps at Pearl Harbor by D. C. Emerson, December 7, 1941; December 15, 1941; medical officer in command of Naval Hospital, Pearl Harbor, to Chief of Bureau of Medicine and Surgery, January 16, 1942; Ravin-Long report.
The observations from the doctors who treated burn patients is from “Some Observations on the Casualties at Pearl Harbor,” Naval Medical Bulletin 40, no. 2 (1942): 353–58; “The SOLACE in Action,” Naval Medical Bulletin 40, no. 3 (1942): 552–57; annual sanitary report for 1941 from the Base Force, Pacific Fleet; medical officer in command of Naval Hospital, Pearl Harbor, to Chief of the Bureau of Navigation, December 22, 1941; Ravdin-Long report.
The account of blood donors was corroborated by Clarke, Remember Pearl Harbor, pp. 155–58.
The commendation of the ladies of Hotel Street was from the book, “Hotel Street Harry.” Highland Park, Illinois: RTC Publishing , 2016, pp. 3-4.
7: America Responds
The quote that opens the chapter is from Dan van der Vat, Pearl Harbor: The Day of Infamy—An Illustrated History (New York: Basic Books, 2001), p. 154.
The quote by the gunner’s mate is from Thurston Clarke, Pearl Harbor Ghosts: The Legacy of December 7, 1941 (New York: Ballantine, 1991), p. 217.
The shortages listed can be found in Craig Shirley, “The Eighth of December,” in December 1941: 31 Days that Changed America and Saved the World (Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson, 2011), pp. 183–208, passim.
The portion of FDR’s address that is quoted is from File No. 1401-A, December 9, 1941, Fireside Chat No. 18—re: War with Japan.
8: Recovery
The quote at the beginning of the chapter is from Stanley Weintraub, Pearl Harbor Christmas: A World at War, December 1941 (Boston: Da Capo Press, 2011), p. 85.
FDR’s words about us all being the United States of America is from his fireside chat on April 28, 1942, “On Our Economic Policy.”
9: Home to Red Cloud
The quote at the beginning of the chapter is from Thomas Wolfe, You Can’t Go Home Again (New York: Scribner, 2011), p. 50.
The quote that begins, “You can’t go home to your family . . .” is from Wolfe, You Can’t Go Home Again, p. 602.
10: Back in the Fight
The quote at the beginning of the chapter is from William Shakespeare, Henry V, “St. Crispin’s Day Speech,” Act 4, Scene 3. Folger Shakespeare Library, Washington Square Press, 2004.
The quote from Admiral Turner is from the book by Robin L. Rielly, “Kamikazes, Corsairs, and Picket Ships:” Okinawa, 1945. Havertown, Pennsylvania: Casemate Publishers, 2008, p. 348.
11: Endgame
The quote at the beginning of the chapter is from a speech Roosevelt had been scheduled to give on Jefferson Day, April 13, 1945, the day after his death.
The words of Roosevelt about making the world safe for our chil-
dren are from his fireside chat, “On War with Japan,” December 9, 1945.
The two quotes from David Brooks are from his book The Road to Character (New York: Random House, 2015), pp. 3–4.
The quote by Truman on the language of bombardment is from John W. Dower, Cultures of War: Pearl Harbor, Hiroshima, 9–11, Iraq (New York: Norton, 2010), p. 279.
MacArthur’s words are from a book by Bill Sloan, “The Ultimate Battle:” Okinawa 1945—The Last Epic Struggle of World War II. New York: Simon & Schuster Paperbacks, 2007, pp. 351–352.
12: The Lessons of Pearl Harbor
The quote at the beginning of the chapter is from Franklin D. Roosevelt, fireside chat, “On War with Japan,” December 9, 1941.
The war warning to General Short is from Gordon W. Prange with Donald M. Goldstein and Katherine V. Dillon, Pearl Harbor: The Verdict of History (New York: McGraw-Hill, 1986), p. 720.
The war warning to Admiral Kimmel is from Prange, Pearl Harbor: The Verdict of History, p. 721.
The conversation between Morgan and Kimmel is documented in John W. Dower, Cultures of War: Pearl Harbor, Hiroshima, 9–11, Iraq (New York: Norton, 2010), p. 43.
13: Remembering the Arizona
The quote at the beginning of the chapter is from Gordon W. Prange with Donald M. Goldstein and Katherine V. Dillon, Pearl Harbor: The Verdict of History (New York: McGraw-Hill, 1986), p. 629.
The diary entry by President Bush is from John W. Dower, Cultures of War: Pearl Harbor, Hiroshima, 9–11, Iraq (New York: Norton, 2010), p. 4.
A picture of the plaque given to the memorial by the United Japanese Society of Hawaii is in Michael Slackman, Remembering Pearl Harbor: The Story of the USS Arizona Memorial (Honolulu: Arizona Memorial Museum Association, 1984), p. 82.
My memories of the Arizona Memorial, which I have visited fifteen times, have been sharpened by Slackman, Remembering Pearl Harbor.
The stories of the twenty-fifth and forty-fifth anniversaries of Pearl Harbor can be found in Thurston Clarke, Pearl Harbor Ghosts: The Legacy of December 7, 1941 (New York: Ballantine, 1991), pp. 118–22. Mention of Don’s story is on p. 121.
The passage about loving your enemies can be found in Matthew 5:43–48.
The passage about forgiving your enemies can be found in Mark 11:25.
The dedication and names of the dead that are etched in marble on the memorial wall were installed and rededicated by AMVETS on April 4, 1984.
The conversation between Kendall Fielder and Mitsuo Fuchida was from Clarke, Pearl Harbor Ghosts, pp. 120–21.
The conversations with Sterling Cale and his wife and Ray Emory and the author were from Clarke, Pearl Harbor Ghosts, p. 257.
The firsthand account of Mitsuo Fuchida’s conversion is from Mitsuo Fuchida, From Pearl Harbor to Calvary: True Story of the Lead Pilot of the Pearl Harbor Attack and His Conversion to Christianity (Escondido, CA: eChristian, 2011). The book was originally published in 1953 under the title From Pearl Harbor to Golgotha.
A more detailed account of Mitsuo Fuchida’s conversion is from Gordon W. Prange, with Donald M. Goldstein and Katherine V. Dillon, God’s Samurai: Lead Pilot at Pearl Harbor (Washington, DC: Potomac Books, 2004). Prange was a professor of history at the University of Maryland and a Pearl Harbor scholar who wrote two definitive books on the subject: At Dawn We Slept: The Untold Story of Pearl Harbor, and Pearl Harbor: The Verdict of History. During the course of his research, Prange consulted Fuchida over the years, and the two of them eventually became good friends.
14: Preparing for the Seventy-Fifth Anniversary
The quote about life ending is from Thomas Wolfe, You Can’t Go Home Again (New York: Scribner, 2011), p. 638.
For a schedule of events for the seventy-fifth anniversary of Pearl Harbor, see http://www.pearlharbor75thanniversary.com. For information about tours: http://www.beyondbandofbrothers.com and http://www.enoa.com. For symposiums: http://www.Pearl75.org.
Epilogue: Preparing for Heaven
The quote at the beginning of the Epilogue is from the film Saving Private Ryan, 1998, DreamWorks, directed by Steven Spielberg.
The story about the rabbi and the woman is by Rabbi Tzvi Freeman, “Memory and Loss.” The rabbi is senior editor of Chabad.org and the author of Bringing Heaven Down to Earth (Holbrook, MA: Adams Media, 1999).