Pearl Harbor Day: A Child's View of Pearl Harbor

“The planes were so low, just barely above the roof tops, that we could see the pilot’s faces and even the goggles that covered their eyes.

In the movies, an airplane attack always has the rat-tat-tat of guns as the plane dive-bombs its target.  But when the Japanese planes flew directly over us, the sound of the bullets was muffled by the roar of the engines.   Even though we couldn’t hear them, the incendiary bullets found their targets. Our kitchen was now on fire and parts of the roof were gone.  The front door of our next door neighbor was so bullet ridden from the strafing that it fell from its hinges.”

This was an eye witness account from the eyes of a child who was in first grade living in Pearl Harbor on Dec. 7th 1941. It was taken from a book written for children called  Pearl Harbor Child: A Child's View of Pearl Harbor- From Attack to Peace by Dorinda Makanaonalani Nicholson first published in 1993. It is an interesting perspective of history and a great resource to stimulate conversation.

Today, December 7, 2011, marks the 70th anniversary of the day that lives in infamy: Pearl Harbor Day. Early in the morning of Sunday, Dec. 7, 1941, in a Hawaiian bay, Japan launched a deadly offensive — killing 2,402 Americans and propelling the country into World War II. Where were you in 1941? Do you have a relative or friend with and memories of that day?