"Then, from the neighborhood called Punchbowl, I saw a formation of black planes..."

Fascinating eye-witness account of a never before published Pearl Harbor story:

On Dec. 7, 1941, when Japanese planes attacked Pearl Harbor, I was working as a reporter for the Honolulu Star-Bulletin. After a week of war, I wrote a story directed at Hawaii's women; I thought it would be useful for them to know what I had seen. It might help prepare them for what lay ahead. But my editors thought the graphic content would be too upsetting for readers and decided not to run my article. It appears here for the first time:

For seven ghastly, confused days, we have been at war. To the women of Hawaii, it has meant a total disruption of home life, a sudden acclimation to blackout nights, terrifying rumors, fear of the unknown as planes drone overhead and lorries shriek through the streets.

The seven days may stretch to seven years, and the women of Hawaii will have to accept a new routine of living. It is time, now, after the initial confusion and terror have subsided, to sum up the events of the past week, to make plans for the future.

It would be well, perhaps, to review the events of the past seven days and not minimize the horror, to better prepare for what may come again.

I have a story to tell, as a reporter, that I think the women of Hawaii should hear. I tell it because I think it may help other women in the struggle, so they will not take the past events lightly.

Go read the account.  Pass it on.  

We're losing visibility to what took place 71 years ago today.  This brings a snippet of it back.

With props to allyHM on Facebook.

Comments

[allyHM]

So....you DO pay attention to the stuff I post. :D I found this article to be poignant and edifying. I honestly thought (thanks to public school education) that only military targets were affected by the bombing of Pearl Harbor. I had NO IDEA civilians were hit, too, and that businesses were destroyed. I am more convinced than ever that homeschooling the grandson is the right thing to do (at least until or unless we can get him in the school our church supports which is PHENOMENAL but picky...and expensive).