PEARL HARBOR’S LASTING LEGACY
The deadly attack left an indelible imprint on the American psyche, spurring the nation to tremendous martial achievement during World War II
In the aftermath of Pearl Harbor, the consternation of the American people quickly turned to rage. Military recruiting offices overflowed with volunteers and patriotic sentiment soared, silencing a once robust isolationist movement. Scrap metal and rubber drives were common occurrences, and slogans such as “Slap the
Japs with your metal scraps!” were plastered on posters across the country. American industry reached new levels of arms production, and the US Navy became the strongest in the world in an astonishingly short period of time. Its new Essex-class fleet aircraft carriers and fast Iowa-class battleships carried the Pacific War across the ocean’s expanse to the doorstep of the Japanese home islands.
“The concept of the greatest generation was born,” assessed David Kilton, chief of interpretation at the Pearl Harbor National Memorial. “The American people rose to the challenge before them, and it was a full-hearted response.”
President Franklin D Roosevelt had gone to Congress to seek a declaration of war against Japanese the day after the attack and described 7 December 1941 as a “date which will live in infamy”. No other event, with the exception of the terrorist attacks of 11 September 2001, has given Americans such pause to contemplate their own survival and prosperity in the face of a determined enemy. Today, Americans remember the attack each year on 7 December: Pearl Harbor Day.
Thousands of visitors come to the Arizona Memorial at Pearl Harbor each year as well. Dedicated in 1962 and stretching above the wreckage of the battleship that also serves as a watery tomb for its dead, the memorial is designed with a depression in its centre and upswept outer edges symbolic of the final victory. Flowers of remembrance are left even by prefectures in Japan.