The Styrous® Viewfinder: Remember Pearl Harbor ~ 80 years later

December 7, 2021

Remember Pearl Harbor ~ 80 years later

"Remember Pearl Harbor" - December 7, 1941

"Sweetheart" pin

Today is the 80th anniversary of the bombing of Pearl Harbor. The surprise attack by the Imperial Japanese Navy on December 7, 1941, led the United States to declare war on the Empire of Japan, making the attack on Pearl Harbor the immediate cause of the United States' entry into World War II.

Pearl Harbor - aerial photo

Although I was a baby when it happened, it impacted my early years as I lived through the war with its restrictions and "patriotic" enthusiasm in many aspects of my life, mostly the music of the time; The Andrews Sisters, Kay Kyser, Vera Lynn (links below) and many others.

After the war began, many artifacts, mostly jewelry worn by women as in the photo above, carried the simple expression, "Remember Pearl Harbor." My mother had a pin, a plain bar with that expression which had a real pearl in place of the word "Pearl".

Japanese Admiral Isoroku Yamamoto, who planned the attack, is supposed to have said in the aftermath, “I fear all we have done is to awaken a sleeping giant and fill him with a terrible resolve.”

Viewfinder links:

The Andrews Sisters

Kay Kyser

Vera Lynn

Pearl Harbors

Christine K. Simonson

Net links:

AP News ~ Pearl Harbor survivors gather on 80th anniversary of attack

History ~ Pearl Harbor

Military.com ~ Rarely Seen Photos of the Attack on Pearl Harbor

National Park Service ~ Pearl Harbor

Time ~ 3 myths about Pearl Harbor