Pearl Harbor

How Ambassador Joseph Grew Tried to Prevent the Pacific War

by Steve Kemper

Caught between Japanese militarism and the State Department's inflexibility, Joseph C. Grew worked for a decade as the U.S. Ambassador to Japan to try to avert a war he saw looming long before Pearl Harbor. 

Eighty Years Ago, Japan Assaulted More Than Pearl Harbor

by Mindy L. Kotler

Memorializing the attacks on the American military base at Pearl Harbor often obscures the attacks against the wider Pacific launched by the Japanese on December 7, 1941, attacks with consequences that endure today. 

Military Historian: 3 Myths about Pearl Harbor

Rob Citino of the National World War II Museum addresses how Pearl Harbor has "lived in infamy" but not necessarily in accuracy. 

6 Inspiring Stories From Those who Remember the Pearl Harbor Attack

Learn more about the experiences of a diverse group of Americans who remember the Pearl Harbor attacks. 

DNA Testing Rescued Pearl Harbor's Dead from Patriotic Mythmaking

by John Bodnar

"When family members were asked for DNA samples and learned that long-lost loved ones might be coming home, they began to disclose to reporters aspects of the war’s legacy that had remained outside the glare of large public memorials and celebrations."

Last Pearl Harbor Fighter Plane that Still Flies a Historical Highlight at American Heritage Museum in Hudson

A series of accidents allowed a P-40 fighter plane to survive the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor; after crashing in service a month later, the plane lay on a Hawaiian mountainside until 1985, when it was restored to flight condition using parts from other planes. It is now an attraction at the American Heritage Museum in Hudson, Massachusetts.

Yakima Sailor's Remains Identified 78 Years After Pearl Harbor Attack

Advances in DNA testing made it possible to identify the remains of Patrick Chess, unnacounted for and presumed dead in the attack on the USS Oklahoma. 

A black mess attendant was a Pearl Harbor hero. Now an aircraft carrier will have his name.

Even without gun training, Doris Miller jumped behind one of the unmanned Brownings, swung it skyward and fired until his belt was empty and crew members were ordered to abandon ship.

Fact check: After Pearl Harbor, Japanese didn't invade US because they feared armed citizens?

Four experts told us there is no evidence that Japan ever seriously considered such an invasion and that military limitations, not Americans armed with hunting weapons, were the reasons why.

Newly released 1941 memo says Emperor Hirohito ‘at ease’ with attack on Pearl Harbor

A newly released memo by a wartime Japanese official provides what a historian says is the first look at the thinking of Emperor Hirohito and Prime Minister Hideki Tojo on the eve of the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor that thrust the U.S. into World War II.

These Investigations All Took Much Longer than Mueller’s Probe Has So Far

by Bruce W. Dearstyne

History suggests the need for patience.

We All Remember FDR’s Speech Explaining Why We Went to War Against Japan …

by Gerard N. Magliocca

But why did we go to war with Nazi Germany? Few recall FDR’s explanation. We should.

Shinzo Abe visits Pearl Harbor just as the spectre of internment returns

by Rachel Pistol

While everyone is familiar with the most obvious consequence of the Pearl Harbor attack, the assault kicked off a number of events in the US itself that still resonate today – none more so than the policy of internment, which involved the incarceration of 120,000 Japanese Americans.

Pearl Harbor Historian: Reconciliation almost came 50 years earlier

It was John F. Kennedy who had a vision for the first real act of reconciliation with Japan.

Abe’s Pearl Harbor Visit Isn’t a First, but It Can Still Be a Milestone

It now appears that the Japanese prime minister is the fourth to visit, and that one of the previous three includes Nobusuke Kishi, his grandfather.

Historians win bid to unseal grand jury transcripts from historic 1942 leak investigation of the Chicago Tribune

The case involves the paper’s report that the US naval victory at Midway 6 months after Pearl Harbor was won by cracking Japan’s secret naval code.

Pearl Harbor Wasn’t the Only Attack that Week that Changed History

by Matthew Levey

Between December 5-11, the war, which had previously been two distinct regional wars, exploded into global war that would consume the planet for another four years. 

Before FDR Gave His Pearl Harbor Speech, Eleanor Gave Hers

by Greg Sumner

What she said is especially relevant now.

Remembering Pearl Harbor Brings ‘Date Which Will Live in Infamy’ to Virtual Reality

Experience the day through the eyes of one survivor.

'Welcome home, Uncle Ed.' The remains of this Pearl Harbor sailor — and many others — are finally coming home

Navy Fireman 3rd Class Edwin Hopkins died during the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor on Dec. 7, 1941. He was buried as an unknown serviceman in Hawaii until his body was recently identified in a DNA test.