Pearl Harbor Remembrance Day Dorothy Riley, SO-PB 7

The USS Arizona (BB-39) burning after the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor. Photo:US Navy

By Dorothy J. Riley, Staff Offi cer-Publications 7

In the hours leading up to 6:45 a.m. Sunday, Dec. 7, 1941, the crew of CGC Tiger had no warning that their day would take a turn for the worst. Berthed at Pearl Harbor, a naval base near Honolulu, the morning for the cutter and its crew started out like any other.

There was just one confusing blip: the USS Ward (DD-139), an American destroyer, sent out a radio dispatch claiming to have engaged an unidentifi ed submarine and to have sunk it. For the next 30 minutes, there were no further radio transmissions or explanations. No one seemed to know anything about a foreign hostile craft in American waters. Then came the assault: just before 8 a.m. on that Sunday morning, hundreds of Japanese fi ghter planes descended on the base and destroyed or damaged nearly 20 American naval vessels, including eight battleships and over 300 airplanes. Less than two hours later, the surprise attack was over, and every battleship in Pearl Harbor—USS Arizona, USS Oklahoma, USS California, USS West Virginia, USS Utah, USS Maryland, USS Pennsylvania, USS Tennessee and USS Nevada—had sustained signifi cant damage. More than 2,400 Americans died in the attack, including civilians and another 1,000 people were wounded ing an attack so close to home, the naval facilities at Pearl Harbor were relatively undefended. Almost the entire Pacifi c Fleet was moored around Ford Island in the harbor, and hundreds of airplanes were squeezed onto adjacent airfi elds.

The day after the assault, President Franklin D. Roosevelt asked Congress to declare war on Japan. This declaration catapulted the U.S. into wars on two fronts- both the Pacifi c and the Atlantic. Germany, Italy, and Japan had signed the Tripartite Pact in 1940, better known as the Axis alliance, and Dec. 11, 1941, Germany declared war on the United States. The Coast Guard played a major role during World War II by protecting our extensive coastlines and placing most of their cutters under Navy control. The Coast Guard ferried infantry soldiers to the beaches of Normandy on D-Day and contributed some of the most famous photographs of that bloody event. We as Americans will never forget Pearl Harbor Remembrance Day- Dec. 7- “the day that will go down in infamy.”

In accordance with United States Code Title 36, Chapter 1, Section 129, the president of the United States is requested to issue a proclamation (per Flag Code section 7(m)) for the United States Flag to be displayed at half-staff for the entire day (sunrise to sunset) for National Pearl Harbor Remembrance Day, Wednesday, Dec. 7.Ω