On December 7, 1941, the peace of our beautiful Hawaii was broken horrifically. 1002 sailors are entombed in the hull of the Arizona, left in place as a memorial. May they rest in peace. The photos in this series are not my own, but taken from the LIFE archives.
To reassure the frightened population, surviving bombers plus some moved in from the US mainland were flown over the Territory. They would have been of minimal use in the event of another attack, but they helped morale.
Mobilized immediately, our National Guard organized for defense along with the regular Army. Most of these men were Japanese-Americans, and thousands more volunteered. Due to racism, they were eventually sent to Europe where they became the most highly decorated division in WWII.
Some ships survived the attack, and an amazing number were salvaged and back in action in a matter of months because Pearl Harbor also had dry dock and shipyard facilities that survived.
So much damage was done by the two typhoons which hit Okinawa in 1945 that my father and many others had to remain there to rebuild facilities they had already rebuilt. He did not leave until December, 1945.
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