It was On This Day in 1941, at 7:55 a.m. Hawaii
time, that the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor, destroying a large portion of the
US Pacific fleet and bringing the United States into World War II. It
was, as President Franklin D Roosevelt
declared, truly a day that would live in infamy.
Being a Sunday morning, most of the ships anchored at Pearl Harbor were only lightly manned. In the end, 18 US
ships were destroyed, sunk or capsized. Over 3,000 Americans were among the
casualties and another 2,400 killed.
That morning the Harrisburg Telegraph ran a three lone, all
capitals bolded headline announcing the bombing. The paper ran various articles
about the bombing, the war, and Pennsylvania ’s
involvement. One noted that PA Governor James instructed State Police to be “in
readiness for immediate action.”
Congress quickly declared war on Japan . The Senate voted unanimously
82 to 0. In the House however there was but one lone single dissenting vote. Jeanette
Rankin, a Republican congresswoman from Montana ,
voted against declaring war. According to the Lock Haven Express, both Pennsylvania senators –
James J. Davis and Joseph F Guffey - voted in favor of the resolution.
The New York Fire Commissioner Patrick Walsh ordered all
firemen on alert and warned them to be ready for a blackout. The US Navy
announced a censorship on all outgoing communication.
In the Panama Republic police were rounding up the Japanese and
took them to Colon .
That same day, the Dutch East Indies, Costa Rica
and Canada also declared war
on Japan .
Sources
“A date which
will live in infamy.” This Day in History, 1941. History.com.
The
Express. (Lock
Haven, PA), 8 December 1941. Chronicling America : Historic American
Newspapers. Library of Congress.
On
This Day is a prompt to further explore historical events.
©
Jeanne Ruczhak-Eckman, 2015
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