She Remembers Pearl Harbor

Hickam Field, adjacent to Pearl Harbor U.S. Naval Base, was established in 1935 as Hawaii’s principal army airfield and bomber base. On December 7, 1941, 51 airplanes were on the ground at Hickam, the headquarters of the Hawaii Air Force, and a flight of 12 B-17s was expected to arrive that morning. The first wave of…

“Tora Tora Tora,” the message sent by Captain Mitsuo Fuchida, was the Japanese code expression for the signal to begin the attack on Pearl Harbor. “Tora” is a Japanese word that means “tiger,” but the entire phrase is considered an abbreviation for totsugeki raigeki, which implies “lightning attack.” These three simple words signaled that the December…

In Hawaii, The rumors were flying like crazy. “The Japanese were about to land troops on Oahu!” “They are going to attack San Francisco!” The military imposed martial law on Hawaii, calling for curfews and blackouts. At night, the hospital staff hung blankets over the windows to block the light, so the enemy couldn”™t spot…

Pearl Harbor, located near Honolulu, Hawaii, was the site of a devastating surprise attack by Japanese forces on December 7, 1941. Shortly before 8 a.m. that Sunday morning, many Japanese fighter planes descended upon the base. They succeeded in either destroying or causing significant damage to nearly 20 American naval vessels, including eight battleships, as…