Freedom isn’t free: Remembering Pearl Harbor

From the top: Photographer Robert Enrique Muller captured this image of USS Arizona (BB-39) in the East River, New York City, in 1916. (U.S. Naval Historical Center public domain image/Courtesy Sid Taylor, 1983) An unnamed photographer captured this image of the USS Arizona (BB-39) burning after the Dec. 7, 1941, attack on Pearl Harbor. (Public domain image/National Archives and Records Administration via Wikimedia Commons) Marines and sailors assigned to the 11th Marine Expeditionary Unit and the amphibious transport dock USS Portland (LPD 27) salute the USS Arizona Memorial while manning the rails as Portland pulls into Pearl Harbor, Hawai’i, Feb. 19, 2022. (USMC photo/Gunnery Sgt. Donald Holbert)

It’s been 84 years since Japanese planes flew into Pearl Harbor, Hawai’i, under cover of darkness and unleashed the devastating pre-dawn attack on the U.S. Pacific Fleet that thrust America into World War II.

Moored Dec. 7, 1941, in Battleship Row were the USS Arizona, USS California, USS Maryland, USS Nevada, USS Oklahoma, USS Pennsylvania, USS Tennessee and USS West Virginia. Other ships nearby also were hit, as was Hickam Air Force Base.

More than 2,400 Americans, including U.S. service members and civilians, died in the attack. USS Arizona took the heaviest casualties, with 1,177 of it 1,512-person crew lost when a bomb pierced its hull and triggered a massive explosion.

Commissioned in 1916, Arizona sank in the harbor, where it lies today with the remains of more than 900 of its dead still entombed. In 1962, the USS Arizona Memorial was dedicated and today, it’s part of the Pearl Harbor National Memorial at Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam, which also features other battleship memorials, museums and more.

The National Park Service, which oversees the site, maintains a list of the Marines and sailors who perished on board. They came from states across the country, including Arizona.

Here are some of the ways Americans across the country are remembering Dec. 7, 1941, which President Franklin D. Roosevelt declared “a date that will live in infamy” in his speech to Congress the day after the attack:

• U.S. Air Force veteran Mike Isaac-Jimenez recounts the horror and heroes of the day in his blog, Pearl Harbor: A Nation Awakens, on the Soldier’s Angels website: “News of the Pearl Harbor attack spread like wildfire. Across cities and towns, families froze as the distant Pacific suddenly felt dangerously close. Mothers clutched photographs of sons, fathers stared at radios in disbelief, and communities held one another in silent fear. For a nation accustomed to peace, the attack delivered a jolt—a stark reminder that freedom is fragile and must be protected.”

• In USS Arizona Brothers, NPS details family members — including 23 of 38 sets of brothers and a father and son stationed aboard the ship — who were lost that day: “Like the waters of the Pacific, family ties ran deep on the Arizona. Serving aboard were a father and son and 38 sets of brothers. Naturally, they wanted to be together. Their families back home felt the same, but worried about losing all of their boys when disaster struck. These fears became reality as the sinking of the Arizona killed 23 sets of brothers and the father and son.”

• The U.S. Department of Defense offers a comprehensive multimedia presentation on the attack with images, stats on each of the battleships, videos of the president’s speech and interviews with survivors and witnesses; a look at why Japan chose Pearl Harbor; stories of those who distinguished themselves that day and a gallery of images from events held throughout the years at the memorial.

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