“A date which will live in infamy . . .”
On Sunday, Dec. 7, 1941, the Japanese fleet named the “Kido Butai”, led by Vice Admiral Nagumo, launched a surprise attack in two waves on the American naval forces located at Pearl Harbor. Their target? All military assets, especially Battleship Row.
The Americans were caught off guard and suffered enormous casualties, most of those coming from the USS Arizona and USS Oklahoma. 1,177 sailors died on board the USS Arizona, and 429 were killed on the USS Oklahoma when she capsized. 2,403 people total lost their lives that day.
It was an event that shocked our nation and shaped a whole generation of Americans. The United States entered WWII because of the attack, and thousands rushed to join the fight. At the same time, thousands of Japanese-American families on the West Coast were forced from their homes and sent to internment camps, where many of them remained until the war ended.
Despite this, the majority of Japanese-American citizens did not hate the U.S. for doing this; in fact, they were upset with Japan for attacking the United States. Many Nisei enlisted in the U.S. military to prove they were loyal to the United States.
To prevent any complications, the U.S. government sent the Nisei to fight the Nazis in Europe, where the 442nd Regimental Combat Team and the 100th Infantry Division were recognized for being one of the most decorated units in U.S. military history.
Meanwhile, back on the home front, division and racism against those of Japanese descent increased after the attack on Pearl Harbor. They were actively discriminated against, and those of other Asian backgrounds, fearful of facing similar consequences, began wearing buttons with messages such as “I am Chinese” to clarify they were not Japanese.
There are many reasons why we shouldn’t forget Pearl Harbor. Alongside the enormous number of Americans who lost their lives, that date, which continues to live in infamy, reminds us of not just lessons we can learn from the past but of the stories that are entombed within that cleft on the south shore of Oahu.
There are stories like those of Mary Dianne Wagner, the daughter of Chief Wagner of the USS Utah, whose twin sister Nancy Wagner’s ashes were on the Utah when the Japanese sank the ship after mistaking it for an aircraft carrier. Every year on the anniversary of Pearl Harbor, she returns to Ford Island and places a lei in the water at the site of the USS Utah.
There are stories of sailors who survived the explosion and sinking of the USS Arizona and who, after their death, chose to be buried with their fellow sailors within the wreckage of the sunken ship.
Despite being forced from their homes, the Japanese-Americans who were imprisoned in internment camps forgave the U.S. government for their actions, and the Americans forgave Japan for the attack on Pearl Harbor.
Those divisions and tensions among the American people have healed. The country whose navy once stood against us now stands with us as one of our greatest allies in different naval exercises in the Pacific, such as RIMPAC.
We also must not forget the stories on the other side of the ocean, like the story of Commander Mitsuo Fuchida, a celebrated Japanese war hero who became Christian. Commander Fuchida led the air raid on Pearl Harbor and hated the United States so much that he advocated for a third-wave attack to cripple the U.S. Navy entirely. He later converted to Christianity after World War II and regretted what he had done despite facing extreme backlash in Japan for his repentance.
These stories of the past are slowly fading away. The number of those who bore witness to them continues to decline. As they age, who else will remember those stories?
Who will remember the 54 men who perished on the USS Utah and will forever stand watch over little Nancy Wagner? Who will remember the stories of lasting dedication and brotherhood between the sailors of the USS Arizona? Who will remember an esteemed Japanese pilot’s conversion and repentance?
A date which will live in infamy. An event that shaped a generation. A war that changed the world. History holds so many stories that can show the worst and best sides of humanity.
So many lost their lives at Pearl Harbor. Let us not lose them a second time. It is up to us, the living, to ensure that they and their stories are not forgotten.
Mary Anne Panganiban is a senior business major at UD who volunteers as a docent at the Pearl Harbor Aviation Museum in Oahu, Hawaii.