On December 7, 1941, the Imperial Japanese Navy attacked our forces at Pearl Harbor and Other locations in Hawaii, taking the lives of 2,403 service members and civilians and leading the United States to declare its entrance into World War II.
Here is the full text of Biden’s proclamation: "I want people to know that war affects everyone," Nicholson said.How remains of personnel killed in Pearl Harbor are identified decades later In three decades of work cataloguing the stories of Pearl Harbor, Nicholson said she wants people to reconsider the lives of everyone affected by war, including women and children and civilians whose stories she said are more likely to be forgotten. She said people were stunned at the bombing of Pearl Harbor in 1941 – the same way Americans were shocked and overwhelmed by the 9/11 attacks nearly 60 years later.īut the aftermath of Pearl Harbor is what Nicholson remembers most: hiding at Waipahu sugar plantation, martial law in Hawaii and her family being unable to return to their house on the Waipi'o Peninsula because of the risk of undetonated bombs. "I want people to not forget what’s happening with those left behind." "One solider that died represents a mom, and a dad and a sibling back home," Nicholson said. military's global reach.īut Nelson and Nicholson said the nation's collective memory of Pearl Harbor and the impact of World War II is fading. Most recently, the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan further expanded the U.S. Later, in the Cold War, the country waged a global fight against communism. The attack on Pearl Harbor caused Americans to "pull together" to fight fascism, Nelson said. “If you lived before Pearl Harbor, you would feel more comfortable going back to the Revolutionary War era than you would moving to the era now," Nelson said. In 2021, most Americans probably don't realize how large a shift the attack prompted in culture and society for the individual American, Nelson said. "This year is not going to be as big as years in the past," National Park Service program specialist Emily Pruett told USA TODAY.Įven with yearly memorials, collective understanding of Pearl Harbor is slipping, Nelson said. This year, masks are required in all areas regardless of vaccination status, including when social distance is maintained. The National Park Service said it's trying to minimize veterans' potential exposure to the coronavirus. influence.Įach year, the National Memorial marks Pearl Harbor Remembrance Day by commemorating how "December 7 was a catalyst that led to a changed world." This year, the memorial is focusing on the "long and difficult road to peace" and highlighting "the importance of the peace that brought reconciliation," according to its website.Ĭeremonies this week will be the first in-person events to commemorate Pearl Harbor since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic. Roosevelt, launched America's involvement in World War II, beginning decades of growing global U.S. The events of that day, dubbed "a date which will live in infamy" by then-President Franklin D.
7, 1941 – killing more than 2,400 – America was an "isolated, quiet, withdrawn" nation said Craig Nelson, author of the 2016 book "Pearl Harbor: From Infamy to Greatness." When hundreds of Japanese planes bombed American service members and civilians on U.S.
The date that changed the course of a nation will be marked by about 35 military survivors who plan to gather at multiple events. Tuesday marks eight decades since the shocking attack on Pearl Harbor. "You need to know your history," she said. She still carries a bullet that was lodged into the wall telephone as a memento. Veterans Day: Chinese American WWII vets were 'forgotten, ignored and excluded.' That's no longer the caseįact Check: Armed citizens are not what stopped Japan from invading after Pearl Harbor There would be shrapnel in her front yard. Soon, the walls of Nicholson's family's kitchen would have bullets in them. "I didn’t know at the time they were torpedo planes."
They were that low and close," Nicholson, 86, told USA TODAY. They ran outside and saw Japanese torpedo bombers skimming the tops of trees along Pearl Harbor. She remembers her dad, a civilian, remarking how strange it was for the Army and Navy to engage in practice flights on a Sunday. 7, 1941, and planes were flying low overhead. Eighty years ago, 6-year-old Dorinda Makanaonalani Nicholson sat down to a Sunday morning breakfast at home on Hawaii's Pan American air base when the walls began to shake.