I Survived #4: I Survived the Bombing of Pearl Harbor, 1941
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You’d have to crazy not to be scared, with what was happening in the world, with America at war with both Japan and Germany now. More troops were arriving every day at Pearl Harbor. Soon they’d all be sent to fight the Japanese in the Pacific, even Mack, who was almost well enough to starting running bombing missions in his B-17. Danny knew Mack was sad to be leaving; he and Ma were good friends now. Danny never did have to make Ma go out to dinner with him. She asked him herself.
Danny was scared for Ma when she went to take care of the men at Hickam. He was scared for Mr. Sudo, that he might get arrested again. He was scared that something bad could happen to Aki.
But, Danny decided, being scared was better than being numb.
If he were numb, he wouldn’t be able to feel happy, and there were times when he caught himself smiling. Like when Mack came for dinner, or when Mr. Sudo was teaching him to draw, or when Aki rushed by with his crazy monkey smile, with no idea that so many bad things were happening.
And of course there was Finn.
Finn was better now. Danny found out because Ma had been allowed to use the phone at the hospital to call Mrs. Mills. Ma wanted her to spread the word in the neighborhood that she and Danny were safe. Mrs. Mills told her that Earl and all of his guys had enlisted in the army. And the most important news: Finn was out of the hospital, and he was staying with Mrs. Mills.
Danny liked the sound of that. He was writing Finn a long letter about what had happened to him during the attack. Ma said that all letters from Hawaii would be censored; soldiers would read his letter and cross out any information that could help the enemy. Danny didn’t mind. He’d even asked Mr. Sudo to draw a picture of Aki for him to send. Mr. Sudo said that instead he would help Danny draw the picture. It was almost done. It wasn’t good. But it didn’t stink too bad.
Danny put his head back down on the pillow. At least the morning birds had come back. He liked to listen to them sing.
But then there was that strange sound again, the sound that had woken him up.
It sounded like a baby whimpering. Was Aki out there? He hadn’t wandered since his father came home. But Danny wanted to make sure.
He threw on some clothes and went outside to the yard.
He followed the sound to one of the prickly bushes.
It wasn’t Aki.
There, shaking like a leaf, was that baby wild boar, with the one white ear.
Danny looked around. Its mother monster was nowhere to be seen.
The baby was alone.
Danny picked it up.
The baby had changed in the past three weeks, like everything else.
Danny held it up and looked the little guy in the eye.
He looked scared. And tough. And like he’d be happy to have someone keep an eye on him.
Danny wasn’t sure if it was possible to keep a wild boar as a pet. In fact, he was pretty sure it was a very bad idea.
But at that moment, Danny decided not to think about it — or anything else — as he headed up the hill to the Sudos’ with the baby resting happily in his arms.
All he was thinking about was how Aki would smile when he saw his Christmas present.
PEARL HARBOR:
A MAN-MADE DISASTER
Like all of the I Survived books, this book is a work of historical fiction. All of the main events and places are real. All of the characters come from my imagination.
But the tragic events of Pearl Harbor weren’t caused by an iceberg or a storm or a hungry shark. The attack on Pearl Harbor was committed by men who plotted for months to cause as much destruction as possible. Why did Japan’s leaders do this? What happened in the months and years after the attack? These are complicated questions, and I couldn’t answer all of them in the story. So here is some more information, and suggestions for how you can explore this event further on your own.
Q&A
Why did the Japanese attack Pearl Harbor?
Today, the country of Japan is one of America’s closest friends in the world. But in the 1930s, the relationship between the two countries was tense. Japan is a small country with few natural resources. At the time, Japan’s leaders wanted more wealth and power. To achieve this, Japan’s leaders began taking over lands that belonged to its neighboring countries, including China. Their plan was to build an empire, a collection of countries that Japan would control completely. Japan’s military leaders knew there was only one country on earth with the firepower to stop them: America. By bombing our ships and planes at Pearl Harbor, the Japanese believed they would — in a matter of hours — eliminate America as a threat.
How did America respond to the attacks?
The United States’ first reaction was total shock. Few people ever imagined that Japan could seriously threaten America. Experts had underestimated the skill of the Japanese military and the sophistication of their planes. In the first minutes of the attack, many people, even top military officers at Pearl Harbor, refused to believe that it was Japan dropping the bombs. Shock turned to horror, fear, and sadness. But then, very quickly, Americans became united and fiercely determined. The next day, Franklin D. Roosevelt appeared before our Congress and made a speech that is still one of the most famous in American history. He said that the date December 7th, 1941, would “live in infamy,” meaning it would always be remembered as a day a great evil was committed. Thirty minutes later, America declared war on Japan. Millions of Americans rushed to join the military.
Our enemy was not only Japan, but Germany too. Those countries had made a secret agreement to fight together. America joined forces with England and France, which had been fighting against Germany since 1939. Our partner ship with England and France, which eventually included Russia as well, became known as the “Allied forces.” Japan joined Germany and Italy. Together they were known as the “Axis powers.”
This fight became what we now call World War II. Between 1939 and 1945, the war raged throughout Europe and many small islands in the Pacific. It would become the bloodiest war in history; nearly 60 million people died, including more than 400,000 American soldiers. (In my imagination, Mack makes it back from his B-17 bombing runs alive to marry Danny’s mom.)
After years of brutal fighting, America and the Allied forces finally won the war.
After the bombing of Pearl Harbor, what happened to Japanese people living in America?
In the hours after Pearl Harbor was attacked, the country of Japan became our bitter enemy. Many feared that the Japanese were planning to invade not only Hawaii, but also the West Coast of America. It was a frightening time in America, and for Japanese people living here, there were uniquely terrible challenges. Just four months after the Pearl Harbor attack, American leaders decided that Japanese people living in certain parts of the U.S. should be forced to live in special guarded camps far away from American cities. Entire families had to pack up, leave their homes and businesses, and move to these “internment camps.” Approximately 100,000 people of Japanese descent, the majority of them American citizens, were forced to live in these guarded camps until the war ended in 1945. Today, the “internment” of loyal Japanese Americans is considered a shameful act in American history. The federal government officially apologized in 1983.
What is Pearl Harbor today?
Today, Pearl Harbor is still a major military base. It is also a monument and graveyard. If you go to Pearl Harbor, you can visit the USS Arizona Memorial. This is the final resting place for many of the sailors and marines who died when the ship exploded. It is also a beautiful monument where you can explore what happened that day.
The memorial is built over the sunken battleship, which rests in 40 feet of water at the bottom of the harbor. The ship still leaks drops of oil that rise to the surface of the water. I was lucky enough to visit this memorial. The drops of oil made me think of the tears that are still shed over the lives lost in the Pearl Harbor attack, and the sorrows of the long war that followed.
PEARL HARBOR TIME LINE
What happened on the morning of
December 7, 1941?
3:40 A.M. A U.S. ship called the Condor is patrolling the waters just two miles away from the entrance to Pearl Harbor. Members of the crew spot something in the water. They believe it is a small submarine, but they aren’t sure. In fact, it is a Japanese “midget” submarine, one of five sent in advance of the attack. The Condor reports this to a nearby destroyer, the Ward.
6:10 A.M. In waters 235 miles north of Hawaii, Japanese planes take off from six aircraft carriers. The first wave of planes includes 181 fighters, bombers, and torpedo planes.
7:02 A.M. From a radar post not far from Pearl Harbor, a radar operator sees an alarming cluster of lights on his screen. At least 50 planes are heading from the north directly toward Hawaii. He shows the officer in charge, a man with little radar experience. He mistakenly believes the lights on the radar screen are U.S. B-17 bombers returning to their base from California.
7:15 A.M. The crew of the Ward finally spots the submarine. They fire “depth charge” explosives and sink the sub. The crew of the Ward reports this incident to Naval Headquarters in Pearl Harbor, telling about the sub. When Admiral Husband Kimmel reads the message, he believes it might be a false alarm and decides to wait before taking action.
7:49 A.M. The first wave of Japanese planes approaches Pearl Harbor. The commander of the attack, Mitsuo Fuchida, looks down on the quiet morning and realizes that the Japanese have achieved total surprise.
7:55 A.M. The attack begins as bombers and torpedoes aim first for the seven battleships. The West Virginia and the California are hit and sink right away, killing more than 200 men. The Utah is hit and capsizes. The Oklahoma is hit and rolls over, trapping dozens of men; 32 will be rescued after an agonizing 36-hour ordeal.
8:10 A.M. A powerful bomb explodes through the deck of the Arizona, igniting more than one million pounds of gunpowder. The massive explosion destroys the ship and instantly kills 1,177 sailors and marines.
8:54 A.M. The second wave of 170 Japanese bombers arrives. This time, they are met with antiaircraft fire. Bombs and torpedoes hit ships throughout the harbor, as well as planes and buildings at the surrounding airfields.
10:00 A.M. The attack ends and Japanese planes head back to their aircraft carriers. The pilots celebrate. The attack was a huge success, but it was not complete. All but three of the ships damaged in the attack were eventually repaired and sent back out to sea. America’s three Pacific aircraft carriers were, by luck, not in the harbor that day and escaped the attack completely.
MORE PEARL HARBOR FACTS:
• Number of American military personnel killed: 2,388
• Number of American civilians killed: 48
• Number of Japanese military personnel killed: 64
• Number of ships sunk or beached: 12
• Number of ships damaged: 9
• Number of American aircraft destroyed: 164
TO FIND OUT MORE
ON YOUR OWN:
Here are some excellent books for kids I dis covered during my research:
Remember Pearl Harbor, by Thomas B. Allen (National Geographic Books)
American and Japanese survivors tell their stories with great maps, charts, and timelines.
Attack on Pearl Harbor: The True Story of the Day America Entered World War II, by Shelley Tanaka, illustrated by David Craig (Madison Press Books)
The author shows how the attack affected three different people: a boy living in Hawaii, a sailor on the USS Oklahoma, and a Japanese pilot. There are also plenty of great pictures and other info.
Pearl Harbor Child, by Dorinda Makanaonalani Nicholson (Woodson House)
The author was a girl living in Pearl City when the attack happened.
The Children of Battleship Row: Pearl Harbor 1940–1941, by Joan Zuber Earl (RDR Books)
Joan’s father was an admiral, and at the time of the attack her family lived on a little island right smack in the middle of the harbor. Her story makes you feel like you are there.
The National Geographic Society has a great Pearl Harbor website, with an amazing “attack map” and a time line that shows the attack minute by minute: www.nationalgeographic.com/pearlharbor.
What happens when
a city on the rise
suddenly falls?
EVERYTHING CAME
CRASHING DOWN …
Leo loves being a newsboy in San Francisco — the money he makes helps his family, and he’s free to explore the amazing, hilly city as it grows with the new century. Horse-drawn carriages share the streets with shiny automobiles, businesses and families move in every day from everywhere, and anything seems possible.
But early one spring morning, everything changes. Leo’s world is shaken — literally — and he finds himself stranded in the middle of San Francisco as it crumbles and burns to the ground. Does Leo have what it takes to survive this devastating disaster?
Do you have what it takes?
I SURVIVED
THE SINKING
OF THE
TITANIC,
1912
UNSINKABLE. UNTIL ONE NIGHT …
George Calder must be the luckiest kid alive. He and his little sister, Phoebe, are sailing with their aunt on the Titanic, the greatest ship ever built. George can’t resist exploring every inch of the incredible boat, even if it keeps getting him into trouble.
Then the impossible happens — the Titanic hits an iceberg and water rushes in. George is stranded, alone and afraid, on the sinking ship. He’s always gotten out of trouble before … but how can he survive this?
I SURVIVED
THE
SHARK
ATTACKS
OF 1916
THERE’S SOMETHING IN THE WATER …
Chet Roscow is finally feeling at home in Elm Hills, New Jersey. He has a job with his uncle Jerry at the local diner, three great friends, and the perfect summertime destination: cool, refreshing Matawan Creek.
But Chet’s summer is interrupted by shocking news. A great white shark has been attacking swimmers along the Jersey shore, not far from Elm Hills. Everyone in town is talking about it. So when Chet sees something in the creek, he’s sure it’s his imagination … until he comes face-to-face with a bloodthirsty shark!
I SURVIVED
HURRICANE
KATRINA,
2005
HIS WHOLE WORLD IS UNDER WATER …
Barry’s family tries to evacuate before Hurricane Katrina hits their home in the Lower Ninth Ward of New Orleans. But when Barry’s little sister gets terribly sick, they’re forced to stay home and wait out the storm.
At first, Katrina doesn’t seem to be as severe a storm as forecasters predicted. But overnight the levees break, and Barry’s world is literally torn apart. He’s swept away by the floodwaters, away from his family. Can he survive the storm of the century — alone?
I SURVIVED
THE SINKING OF THE TITANIC, 1912
THE SHARK ATTACKS OF 1916
HURRICANE KATRINA, 2005
THE BOMBING OF PEARL HARBOR, 1941
About the Author
PHOTO BY DAVID DREYFUSS
LAUREN TARSHIS is the author of I Survived Hurricane Katrina, 2005; I Survived the Shark Attacks of 1916; and I Survived the Sinking of the Titanic, 1912; as well as the critically acclaimed Emma-Jean Lazarus Fell Out of a Tree and Emma-Jean Lazarus Fell in Love. She is the editor of Storyworks and Scope magazines and can be found online at www.laurentarshis.com.
Copyright
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Text copyright © 2011 by Lauren Tarshis
Illustrations copyright © 2011 by Scholastic Inc.
Cover art by Steve Stone
Cover design by Tim Hall
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First printing, September 2011
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eISBN: 978-0-545-38814-6