The United States of America at war!

[NormanStewart]

Japanese declaration of war on the United States and the British Empire

We, by the grace of Heaven, Emperor of Japan, seated on the throne occupied by the same dynasty from time immemorial, enjoin upon ye, Our loyal and brave subjects:

We hereby declare War on the United States of America and the British Empire. The men and officers of Our Army and Navy shall do their utmost in prosecuting the war. Our public servants of various departments shall perform faithfully and diligently their respective duties; the entire nation with a united will shall mobilize their total strength so that nothing will miscarry in the attainment of Our war aims.

To ensure the stability of East Asia and to contribute to world peace is the far-sighted policy which was formulated by Our Great Illustrious Imperial Grandsire and Our Great Imperial Sire succeeding Him, and which We lay constantly to heart. To cultivate friendship among nations and to enjoy prosperity in common with all nations, has always been the guiding principle of Our Empire’s foreign policy. It has been truly unavoidable and far from Our wishes that Our Empire has been brought to cross swords with America and Britain. More than four years have passed since China, failing to comprehend the true intentions of Our Empire, and recklessly courting trouble, disturbed the peace of East Asia and compelled Our Empire to take up arms. Although there has been reestablished the National Government of China, with which Japan had effected neighborly intercourse and cooperation, the regime which has survived in Chungking, relying upon American and British protection, still continues its fratricidal opposition. Eager for the realization of their inordinate ambition to dominate the Orient, both America and Britain, giving support to the Chungking regime, have aggravated the disturbances in East Asia. Moreover these two Powers, inducing other countries to follow suit, increased military preparations on all sides of Our Empire to challenge Us. They have obstructed by every means Our peaceful commerce and finally resorted to a direct severance of economic relations, menacing gravely the existence of Our Empire. Patiently have We waited and long have We endured, in the hope that Our government might retrieve the situation in peace. But Our adversaries, showing not the least spirit of conciliation, have unduly delayed a settlement; and in the meantime they have intensified the economic and political pressure to compel thereby Our Empire to submission. This trend of affairs, would, if left unchecked, not only nullify Our Empire’s efforts of many years for the sake of the stabilization of East Asia, but also endanger the very existence of Our nation. The situation being such as it is, Our Empire, for its existence and self-defense has no other recourse but to appeal to arms and to crush every obstacle in its path.

The hallowed spirits of Our Imperial Ancestors guarding Us from above, We rely upon the loyalty and courage of Our subjects in Our confident expectation that the task bequeathed by Our forefathers will be carried forward and that the sources of evil will be speedily eradicated and an enduring peace immutably established in East Asia, preserving thereby the glory of Our Empire.

In witness whereof, we have hereunto set Our hand and caused the Grand Seal of the Empire to be affixed at the Imperial Palace, Tokyo, this seventh day of the 12th month of the 15th year of Shōwa, corresponding to the 2,602nd year from the accession to the throne of Emperor Jimmu.

[NormanStewart]

Honolulu Star-Bulletin (December 7, 1941)

WAR!

OAHU BOMBED BY JAPANESE PLANES
Six known dead, 21 injured, at emergency hospital

Attack made on island’s defense areas

San Francisco, Dec. 7 (AP by Trans-Pacific Telephone) –
President Roosevelt announced this morning that Japanese planes had attacked Manila and Pearl Harbor.

Washington, Dec. 7 (UP) –
A White House announcement detailing the attack on the Hawaiian Islands read:

The Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor from the air and all naval and military activities on the island of Oahu, principal American base in the Hawaiian Islands.

Oahu was attacked at 7:55 this morning by Japanese planes.

The Rising Sun, the emblem of Japan, was seen on plane wing tips.

Wave after wave of bombers streamed through the cloudy morning sky from the southwest and flung their missile on a city resting in a peaceful Sabbath calm.

According to an unconfirmed report received at the Governor’s office, the Japanese force that attacked Oahu reached island waters aboard two small airplane carriers.

It was also reported that at the Governor’s office either an attempt had been made to bomb the USS Lexington, or that it had been bombed.

Within 10 minutes, the city was in an uproar. As bombs fell in many parts of the city, and in defense areas the defenders of the islands went into quick action.

Army intelligence officers at Fort Shafter officially announced shortly after 9 a.m. the fact of the bombardment by an enemy but long previous Army and Navy had taken immediate measures in defense.

Oahu is under a sporadic air raid. Civilians are ordered to stay off the streets until further notice.

Civilians ordered off streets

The Army has ordered that all civilians stay off the streets and highways and not use telephones.

Evidence that the Japanese attack has registered some hits was shown by three billowing pillars of smoke in the Pearl Harbor and Hickam Field area.

All Navy personnel and civilian defense workers, with the exception of women, have been ordered to duty at Pearl Harbor.

The Pearl Harbor highway was immediately a mass of racing cars.

A trickling stream of injured people began pouring into the city emergency hospital a few minutes after the bombardment started.

Thousands of telephone calls almost swamped the Mutual Telephone Co., which put extra operators on duty.

At the Star-Bulletin office, the phone calls deluged the single operator and it was impossible for this newspaper, for sometime, to handle the flood of calls. Here also an emergency operator was called.

Hour of attack – 7:55 a.m.

An official Army report from Department headquarters, made public shortly before 11, is that the first attack was at 7:55 a.m.

Witnesses said they saw at least 50 airplanes over Pearl Harbor.

The attack centered in the Pearl Harbor area, Army authorities said:

The Rising Sun was seen on the wing tips of the airplanes.

Although martial law has not been declared officially, the city of Honolulu was operating under M-Day conditions.

It is reliably reported that enemy objectives under attack were Wheeler Field, Hickam Field, Kaneohe Bay Naval Air Station and Pearl Harbor.

Some enemy planes were reported shot down.

The body of the pilot was seen in a plane burning at Wahiawa.

Oahu appeared to be taking calmly after the first uproar of queries.

Anti-aircraft guns in action

First indication of the raid came shortly before 8 this morning when anti-aircraft guns around Pearl Harbor began sending up a thunderous barrage.

At the same time, a vast cloud of black smoke arose from the naval base and also from Hickam Field where flames could be seen.

Bomb near Governor’s mansion

Shortly before 9:30, a bomb fell near Washington Place, the residence of the Governor. Governor Poindexter and Secretary Charles M. Hite were there.

It was reported that the bomb killed an unidentified Chinese man across the street in front of the Schuman Carriage Co. where windows were broken.

C. E. Daniels, a welder, found a fragment of a shell or bomb at South and Queen Sts. which he brought into the City Hall. This fragment weighed about a pound.

At 10:05 a.m. today, Governor Poindexter telephoned to the Star-Bulletin announcing he has declared a state of emergency for the entire territory.

He announced that Edouard L. Doty, executive secretary of the major disaster council, has been appointed director under the M-Day law’s provisions.

Governor Poindexter urged all residents of Honolulu to remain off the street, and the people of the territory to remain calm.

Mr. Doty reported that all major disaster council wardens and medical units were on duty within a half-hour at the time the alarm was given.

Workers employed at Pearl Harbor were ordered at 10:10 a.m. not to report at Pearl Harbor.

The mayor’s major disaster council was to meet at the city hall at about 10:30 this morning.

At least two Japanese planes were reported at Hawaiian Department headquarters to have been shot down.

One of the planes was shot down at Fort Kamehameha and the other back of the Wahiawa courthouse.

Damage done around the city

At 9:38 a.m., a live wire was reported down at Richards and Beretania Sts.

At 9:42 a.m., Nuʻuanu above Vineyard, a gas line was leaking.

At 9:44 a.m., at 2840 Kalihi St., a bomb on the road. There was a mysterious Japanese in
a tent camped near there.

At 9:45 a.m., at 2683 Pacific Heights Rd., a bomb struck a house.

Report airplane crashes, Wahiawa

It was reported that an airplane (nationality undisclosed) crashed near the Hawaiian Electric Co. plant at Wahiawa. It was destroyed by fire as were two houses near which it fell. The Army and police flung a guarding coedon around the location and civilians were kept at a distance.

Many injuries are reported

An unidentified Army witness arriving at Hawaiian Department headquarters about 9:30 reported that two oil tanks at Pearl Harbor were ablaze.

A bomb was reported to have struck at 9:25 this morning near 624 Ala Moana.

At 8:35 a.m., the police department broadcast a statement to all officers to warn persons to leave the streets and return to their homes. All soldiers, sailors and Marines off duty were ordered to report at once to their respective posts and stations.

Residents were ordered by radio not to use their telephones.

At 8:17 a.m., a Honolulan at Pearl Harbor gate heard Marines ordered out.

Bomb hits home in Damon Tract

At 8:05 a.m., according to a police report, a bomb crashed through the kitchen of the home of Thomas Fujimoto, 610 E. Rd., Damon Tract, while the family of three was eating breakfast. No one was injured, according to the police.

According to another police report, several persons were injured by a bomb dropping in Kalihi St.

At 9:10 a.m., a report was made to the police that a wave of five dive bombers attacked the oil tanks at Pearl Harbor, the planes flying as low as 100 feet.

At 9:10 a.m., the Pearl Harbor housing area was reported ordered evacuated.

At 9:12 a.m., according to the police, two planes were reported to have dropped bombs on Pearl Harbor road.

At 9:13 a.m., the police received a report that a house on ‘Ālewa Heights had been bombed.

At 9:17 a.m., Damon Tract residents, according to a police report, were ordered evacuated and the police said nearby residents were cooperating in helping them leave the area.

Incendiary bomb at Fort and School

A wooden frame house was split in half by an incendiary bomb at Fort and School Sts., about 9:20 a.m.

Fire department could not stop the flames.

About 100 firemen are operating out of headquarters at Fort and Beretania Sts.

All departments of the fire department have been called at headquarters.

At present, there are six companies operating.

Three companies were sent to Hickam Field this morning.

The firetrucks are sent out to investigate a fire and, after investigating and doing all possible to put it out, return to headquarters for the next assignment.

At 9:25 a.m., a bomb broke a power line at 625 Ala Moana.

At 9:26 a.m., a man was injured at Richards and Beretania Sts.

At 9:27 a.m., a sampan, heavily-laden, was reported off Moanalua.

At 9:30 a.m., a bomb fell at Kuhio and Kalakaua Aves. No one was hurt.

At 9:34 a.m., a Japanese plane was reported shot down at Wahiawa.

At 9:32 a.m., a bomb fell near E. St. in Damon Tract.

At 9:36 a.m., a bomb hit on N. School St.

At 9:50 a.m., all truck drivers and motorboat operators of the U.S. engineers and Hawaiian Constructors were ordered to report at Kewalo Basin.

All Legionnaires who are in the emergency police force were reporting to the police station.

All Legionnaires who are not on the emergency police force are being held at the Legion Clubhouse, Kapiolani Blvd., for call.

The emergency disaster council, headed by Maj. Robert Faus, was called and are at their posts at schoolhouses.

Col. James R. Mahaffay and Joe McGettigan, coordinators, were on duty.

At 10:08 a.m., two Japanese were reported near the water tank at Sierra Drive and Wilhelmina Rise.

At 10:22 a.m., Yuz Marimatsu reported that his house at 758 Kaaloa St. was bombed. A 5-inch shell went directly through the house, injuring no one.

A house at 1807 Liliha St. was reported bombed with no injuries.

Police have been ordered to guard vital spots throughout the city where soldiers have not yet been stationed.

---

Hundreds see city bombed

Hundreds of Honolulans who hurried to the top of Punchbowl seen after bombs began to fall, saw spread out before them the whole panoramas of surprise attack and defense.

Far off over Pearl Harbor, the white sky was polka-dotted with anti-aircraft smoke.

Rolling away from the Navy base were billowing clouds of ugly black smoke. Sometimes, a burst of flame reddened the black sources of the smoke.

Out from the silver-surfaced mouth of the harbor, a flotilla of destroyers streamed to battle, smoke pouring from their stacks.

---

Hawaii meets the crisis

Honolulu and Hawaii will meet the emergency of war today as Honolulu and Hawaii have met emergencies in the past – coolly, calmly and with immediate and complete support of the officials, officers and troops who are in charge.

Governor Poindexter and the Army and Navy leaders have called upon the public to remain calm, for civilians who have an essential business on the streets to stay off; and for every man and woman to do his duty.

That request, coupled with the measures promptly taken to meet the situation that has suddenly and terribly developed, will be needed.

In this crisis, every difference of race, creed and color will be submerged in the one desire and determination to play the part that Americans always play in crisis.

[justintgraham12]

I know it may be late for inclusion in an episode before it is over, but the story of Pan American Flight 18602 beginning yesterday on the 7th and ending in the 6th of January is a fascinating example of how civilian air crews will play a part in the supply chain of the conflict.

[NormanStewart]

For anyone curious:

Pan Am's Flight 'Round the World Flight

[NormanStewart]

BULLETINS

Reported ‘dealt successfully’ with

Washington, Dec 7. (UP) –
Unconfirmed reports said tonight that United States forces “dealt successfully” with Japanese bombers over Hawaii and Manila.

Hull accuses Japanese of outright lies

Washington, Dec. 7. (UP) –
Secretary of State Cordell Hull tonight angrily told Saburō Kurusu and Kichisaburō Nomura, Japanese negotiators, that their government’s answer to his memorandum was:

…crowded with infamous falsehoods and distortions.

Hull’s statement was read directly to Kurusu and Nomura after he read Japan’s document handed to him at 2:20 p.m. EST.

The State Department thus far had not published the document. However, a Department statement described the scene as follows:

Hull carefully read the statement presented by the Japanese ambassador and with the greatest indignation said:

I must say that in all my conversations with you during the last nine months I never uttered one word of untruth. This is borne out absolutely by the record. In all my 50 years of public service I have never seen a document that was more crowded with infamous falsehoods and distortions – on a scale so huge that I never imagined until today any government on this planet was capable of uttering them.

Attacks on Hawaii understood continuing

Washington, Dec. 7. (UP) –
White House Secretary Stephen Early issued a statement tonight declaring that Japanese attacks are continuing so far as the United States knows. Mr. Early said that the Honolulu and Manila attacks occurred when both nations were “at peace” and within an hour or so of the time Nomura and Kurusu handed Secretary of State Hull the Japanese reply to Hull’s memorandum.

Mr. Early said the Army received distress signals from an American vessel, presumably a cargo ship, 700 miles west of San Francisco.

Mr. Early said:

This indicates that Japanese submarines are strung out over the entire area.

U.S. Army transport reported torpedoed

Washington, Dec. 1. (UP) –
An Army transport was torpedoed 1,300 miles west of San Francisco, it was announced tonight.

Naval engagement reported off Honolulu

New York, Dec. 7. (UP) –
NBC tonight reported a naval engagement in progress off Honolulu.

6 planes, 4 subs reported sunk

Washington, Dec. 7. (UP) –
It was reliably reported tonight that anti-aircraft and naval action bagged six Japanese planes and four submarines during the Hawaii action.

---

Schools closed

All schools on Oahu, both public and private, will remain closed until further notice, Edouard L. Doty, territorial director of civilian defense, announced at 11 a.m. today. This does not apply elsewhere in the territory.

---

Guam bombed; attack on Manila reported repulsed

Paul Findelsen, radio editor of the Star-Bulletin, while listening in by shortwave this afternoon at his home at 2512 Waolani Ave., reports news items received by broadcast:

The island of Guam was subjected to a bombing attack this afternoon.

The Japanese also attempted to take Cavite in the Philippine Islands, but the attack was successfully repulsed.

Manila denies any reports of damage to that city.

---

Mokapu attacked

A Mokapu resident reporting at Iolani Palace for emergency duty reported the first bomb at 8:10 a.m. today took the Kaneohe Bay Naval Air Base there completely by surprise and struck and set fire a large seaplane moored on the eastern side of the hangers in the bay.

Bombers exploded oil tanks causing such a conflagration that the hangers could not be seen but it is certain that they were in great danger.

Another plane was struck and set on fire at Kokokahi near the Coral Gardens.

A witness reported that there was no answering gunfire from the base and no planes went up to drive off the attackers. As the enemy planes swooped low and machine-gunned the base, scattered rifle fire was directed at them.

Witnesses said the Japanese machine-gunners’ marksmanship was very poor.

---

HRT buses run on reduced schedule

Addison E. Kirk, president and general manager of the Honolulu Rapid Transit Co., reported that although there were several hits by bombs on overhead power wires, the company is running its buses on a reduced schedule.

---

Parachutists land on Oahu, Army reports

Parachute troops wearing blue uniforms and red shields have landed on Oahu, Army authorities reported to police at 1:10 this afternoon.

---

Parachutist report is probed by police

An unidentified parachute was seen to land at St. Louis Heights about 2 p.m., it was reported. Lookouts reported to the police within five minutes and an investigation was started.

Sixteen provisional policemen and all regular patrolmen in that district were ordered to proceed to the area behind St. Louis College and make a search.

The landing was made at Makapuʻu, according to the report.

---

Suspicious group probed by police

A guard patrolling a water tank at Diamond Head Circle reported he had observed a suspicious group of Japanese at a Monsarrat Ave. address at 2 p.m., and a squad of police was sent to investigate.

---

Bombs hit many sections of city

Bombs rained from the skies on many sections of Honolulu this morning during the Japanese attacks.

A bomb fell about 200 feet from Iolani Palace during the second bombing raid at 11:30.

Observers estimated it was about a 25-pound bomb.

[NormanStewart]

Names of dead, injured

The city emergency hospital reported at 10:30 a list of 6 killed and 21 injured.

The complete list will be carried later. Here is a partial list:

• Peter Lopes, 34, of 2641 Kamanaiki St., was reported at 9:30 a.m. to be in serious condition from wounds in the upper abdomen.

• Bernice Gouveia, 12, 2708 Kalihi St., is suffering from a mangled thigh, lacerations on the right leg and left arm.

• A Portuguese girl, unidentified, 10 years old, died on arrival from puncture wounds.

• Another victim who died on arrival was Frank Ohashi, 29, 2705 Kamanaiki St., from puncture wounds in the chest.

• Cecelia Broadly, 38, Moanalua Gardens, was released from the hospital after treatment for lacerations.

• Three were reported injured and one reported killed from the bomb that fell at Fort and School Sts.

---

DEATHS OVER 400 ON OAHU, LATEST REPORT
Tokyo announces ‘state of war’ with U.S.

Japanese raids on Guam, Panama are reported; Oahu blackout tonight, fleet here moves out to sea

Four waves start at 7:55, Oahu hit in many places

By the Associated Press

Bulletin

Tokyo, Dec. 7 (AP) –
Imperial Headquarters announced at 6 o’clock tonight that Japan had entered a state of war with the United States and Great Britain in the Western Pacific from dawn today.

Honolulu and Oahu came through a baptism of fire today with calm and determination as wave after wave of Japanese bombers rained missiles all over the island.

At 3 this afternoon, Army, Navy, the police and various civilian agencies were on a war footing, and faced possible further attacks with undaunted vigor and courage.

At 3 p.m., the police reported that, based on information from the city emergency hospital and the morgue, there are 25 known dead and 56 known injured in the bombing raids.

In Washington, President Roosevelt announced that the raids were by Japanese bombers.

A United Press dispatch at 3 this afternoon said that estimates given out at Washington are that 400 are dead and 300 injured of the Army forces on Oahu alone.

Japanese raiding planes struck hardest at the Army and Navy bases, but the city of Honolulu itself suffered severe damage.

Deaths on Oahu are reported at more than 400, counting Army and civilian fatalities. Navy casualties have not been announced. Estimate of the Army deaths was given out in a White House statement at Washington tonight.

Reports Guam, Panama attacked

Unconfirmed reports this afternoon based on fragmentary broadcast reports heard on mainland stations, were that both Guam and Panama had been attacked by the Japanese. Press association dispatches mentioned possible attacks on Manila, but there was no confirmation of this.

---

Washington, Dec. 7 (UP) –
The White House tonight issued a preliminary estimate that 400 were dead and more than 300 wounded in the armed forces alone on Oahu. Civilian casualties were not mentioned.

---

New York, Dec. 7 (UP) –
NBC tonight heard the Panama radio broadcast that a Japanese aircraft carrier was sunk off Honolulu.

---

Shanghai, Monday, Dec. 8 (UP) –
The Osaka Mainichi reported from Tokyo today that Japanese Imperial Headquarters announced a naval battle between the Japanese and the British and American fleets is going on:

…in the Western Pacific.

---

By United Press

The United States Fleet steamed from Pearl Harbor Sunday after a Japanese dive bomber, torpedo plane and parachute raid on the great American naval and air base, causing heavy loss of life and property damage in an unprovoked assault which precipitated a general war in the Pacific.

Reportedly, the sound of gunfire was heard off Oahu and gun flashes were seen.

The White House confirmed reports of heavy damage and casualties in Pearl Harbor and also announced that the Navy reported to President Roosevelt an unidentified squadron of airplanes was sighted off Guam.

The White House said it was unable to confirm reports of an attack on Manila.

Reportedly, Hawaiian officials have been expecting the attack for about a week and gave the raiders a warm reception.

Several planes are shot down

Attacking planes, several of which were reported shot down, clearly bore the insignia of the Rising Sun.

Hickam Field appeared to be the principal objective, but fires were also started on Ford Island in the middle of the harbor.

Reportedly, 50 planes attacked later and parachute troops were sighted. However, the parachutists were believed handled.

NBC said 350 were killed by a direct hit on Hickam Field.

The battleship Oklahoma, according to NBC, was also reported attacked and set afire in Pearl Harbor.

Governor Joseph Poindexter of Hawaii declared a state of emergency and the islands operated under a prearranged plan.

Meanwhile, at Washington, President Roosevelt conferred with the cabinet and then summoned Congressional leaders. It was believed Mr. Roosevelt was preparing a message to a joint session of Congress asking a declaration of war – which was expected to pass as soon as asked.

Complete censorship established

The Navy established censorship immediately on all outgoing cable and radio messages. Army and Navy posts throughout the nation were mobilized. Secretary of War Henry L. Stimson and Secretary of the Navy Frank Knox ordered Army and Navy men to wear uniforms at all times.

Damage at Pearl Harbor

Huge fires were raging at Pearl Harbor at 1:10 this afternoon and five Navy vessels appeared to have been destroyed in the air raids.

One ship had turned over on its side.

Fires raging on four other warships appeared to be gaining in intensity and they had settled low in the water.

The base itself apparently was extensively damaged in the raids and great clouds of smoke rose above it.

Patrols were scouring the hills above Pearl Harbor for parachute troops reported to have been seen in the vicinity.

---

Governor proclaims national emergency

Governor Poindexter said he would make a full report to President Roosevelt of the bombing attacks on Honolulu by radiophone immediately after his radio message to the people of Honolulu.

The Governor said at 11:30 that there had been no evidence of sabotage by local Japanese residents.

Governor Poindexter this morning issued the following proclamation declaring a defense period to exist throughout the territory, thereby putting into effect the provisions of the M-Day act of the special session of the legislature:

Under and by virtue of the powers vested in me by Act 24 of the special session laws of Hawaii, 1941, and particularly Section 5 thereof, and under virtue of all powers in me vested by law, I, J. M. Poindexter, Governor of the Territory of Hawaii, hereby find that a state[?] of affairs exist arising out of an attack upon the Territory of Hawaii and that all of the circumstances make it advised to protect the territory and its inhabitants as provided in and by said Act 24 of the special session laws of Hawaii, 1941, and all other laws relating thereto; and by reason of the foregoing.

I do declare and proclaim a defense period to exist throughout the Territory of Hawaii.

This proclamation shall take effect upon promulgation thereof by official announcement by me by means of radio broadcast which I do further declare to have taken place at 10 a.m. on the date hereof, done at Honolulu, Territory of Hawaii this 7th day of December 1941.

JOSEPH B. POINDEXTER
Governor of the Territory of Hawaii

This hereby puts the M-Day bill into full effect.

---

Known Oahu casualties

With eight persons dead upon arrival at the emergency hospital and at least 20 reported dead at Hickam Field, the death toll from air attacks on Oahu this morning continued to mount after noon.

Two identified bodies, mangled by shrapnel, taken to the emergency hospital about 11 a.m. brought the total number dead there to eight.

Dead:

• Portuguese girl, 10 years old, unidentified, puncture wound left temple.

• Caucasian male, 35, unidentified, had initials on shirt.

• Frank Ohashi, 29, puncture wound in chest, 2705 Kamanaiki St.

• Migita Taro, 26, Schofield.

• Japanese girl, unidentified, age about 9, fur on coat only identification.

• Mrs. White, 44, Dorsett Tract, puncture wound in chest.

• Toshio Tokusaki, 5, Peleula Lane.

• Unidentified, 30 to 40.

• Patrick J. Chong, 30, 1457 Fort St.

A report to the police early this afternoon was that two members of the provisional police were shot and killed by machine-gun fire from low flying planes at Wailupe this morning.

Injured:

• Joseph Akana, Chinese-Hawaiian, 27, Papakolea.

• George Stanley, 4, 1920 Colburn St.

• Mrs. Ida Gouveia, 41, 2708 Kalihiuka.

• Kaneshiro Uto, 145-A Fort St.

• Thomas Fujimuro, 13, 610-I Rd., Damon Tract.

• Elton Capps, 19, Signal Service Corps, Fort Shafter.

• Ruth Sakamoto, 37, 44-C N. School St.

• Alfred Moniz, 20, 298th Infantry, Company D.

• Irene Bradley, 15, Moanalua Gardens.

• Cecelia Bradley, 38, Moanalua Gardens.

• Harriet Ide, 20, 1332 Nuʻuanu Ave.

• Rudolph Bartels, U.S. district engineer.

• H. Dallas, 18, Headquarters 18th Wing, Wheeler Field.

• Eunice Wilson, 22, 1457 Fort St.

• George Correa, Company No. 1, Fire Department, was brought in injured from Hickam Field and rushed to emergency hospital.

• Albert Fong, 45, 627-E Waipa Lane

• Yoshio Ogura, 23, 1453 Fort St.

• Sidney Carlson, 37, 2210 Kuhio Ave.

• Glen Hinkle, 21, Fort Shafter.

Hurt in second raid

Persons injured in the second raid taken to the emergency hospital, were:

• Uso Konda, 50, 1630 Leilehua Lane.

• Mildred Irvine, 1113 Duval St.

• Charles Harkins, no address.

• John Kim, 989 Akepo Moana.

• Edward Lilikoa, 1262 Ala Moana.

• Ceasar Costa, 35, 1821 Colburn St.

• Tony Oshiro, 20, 944 McCully St.

• Alfred La Forge, 36, 607 Mokauea St.

• Unidentified female, no age, no address, both legs amputated.

• Yoshiko Konda, no age, no address given.

• R. Izumi, 19, Pelehula Lane.

• Abel Gleason, 32, Leilehua Lane.

• Toshio Tokusato, Pelehula Lane.

• K. Yoshiki, no address.

• James Konda, Kukui St.

• Matthews Kitchen, 38, 2813 Kamiki St., discharged.

• Eishien Tamanaha, 24, 50 Peleula Lane.

• Janice Koga, 20, Kukui St.

• Teruya Kenichi, 18, 19 Peleula Lane.

• Eddie Sakar, 38, 149 N. Vineyard St.

• Warren Tong, 18, 911-B Luka St.

• Hisao Uyene, 20, 15 Palua St.

• Yoshiro Toshisaka, no age, 10 Peleula Lane.

• Mida Escoler, 42, 970 Kawaiaho St.

• Unidentified, 25, no address, female.

• Abraham Kulia, 5, 1920 Colburn St.

• Ellen Kondo, 11, 1630 Leilehua.

• An unidentified 10-year-old Japanese girl with a mangled left leg and shock, in critical condition, was taken to the Children’s Hospital.

• Yoicki Tomisaka, 8, was taken from 1497 River St. to the Japanese Hospital.

• Fire Chief William Benedict has been injured by shrapnel in his head and legs at Hickam Field.

• Frederick Malarsie, Hickam fireman, injured by shrapnel in the legs and stomach, was taken to Tripler Hospital.

• Bernice Gouveia, 12, 2708 Kalihi St.

• Peter Lopes, 34, 2641 Kamanaiki St.

• Mildred Gouveia, 3, 2708 Kamanaiki St.

• Unidentified woman, address unknown.

• Unidentified Japanese man, 28 years old.

• Malani Chun, 21, 2112 Coyne St.

• Mildren Irvine, 8, Fort Ruger.

• Olive Ishiro, 4, 22 Peleula Lane.

• Solomon Napailoea, 4, 1260 Kamanuwai Lane.

• Laura Carlton, 4, 714 15th St. Navy housing.

• Usa Kondo, 50, 1630 Peleula Lane.

• Unidentified Japanese boy, 6, address unknown.

• Unidentified Japanese girl, 3, address unknown.

• John Hopeau, 23, 2012 Democrat St.

• Matilda Faufata, 12, 2009 Oholena St.

• K. Horinouchi, 54, 952 Robello Lane. Laceration of the head.

• Mrs. K. Horiuchi, 39, 952 Robello Lane. Lacerated wound on cheek.

• Yoshiko Harauchi, 26, 952 Robello Lane. Laceration of arm.

• Toshimi Harauchi, 952 Robello Lane. Injury of ear.

• Ichiko Hiroki 36, 987 Robello Lane. Laceration, right shoulder.

• Yoshiko Matsumoto, 20, 952 Robello Lane. Ear injury.

• Ventura Mathis, 31, 101 N. School St. Concussion, right arm.

• Akio Harauchi, 21, 952 Robello Lane. Laceration on right shoulder.

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Inter-island ships, planes are held up

All inter-island sailings to and from Honolulu were ordered cancelled by President Stanley C. Kennedy.

Hawaiian Airlines planes remain grounded until further notice following the strafing of John Rodgers Airport.

---

Two Japanese fliers captured

United States Army intelligence officers said this afternoon that two Japanese aviators were captured and were awaiting questioning by Army officials.

One of the fliers was reportedly captured in the vicinity of Fort Kamehameha and the other at Kahuku.

---

Bulletins

By the United Press

Washington, Dec. 7 –
The White House announced tonight it feared there was heavy loss of life in Hawaii.

New York, Dec. 7 –
The NBC tonight reported 350 men killed in a direct hit on Hickam Field, the Army’s giant airfield on Oahu.

New York, Dec. 7 –
NBC reported from Honolulu tonight that the battleship Oklahoma was set afire during the Pearl Harbor attack.

Military censorship on all messages

Hawaii was under strict emergency rule this afternoon, with close military censorship applied to all outgoing messages.

Governor Poindexter had talked with President Roosevelt by radio telephone and had acquainted him with all details of the attack on Oahu by waves of Japanese planes.

At least four attacks were made on Oahu.

The first was at 7:55 a.m., the second at 11:29, the third at 11:59 and the fourth at 12:41.

The Governor received instructions from the President but declined to reveal what they were.

Meanwhile, the death and injury toll increased with incidents being reported from widely scattered areas of the city.

While no information was forthcoming from Army or Navy sources, it is known that many servicemen were killed during the attack on Pearl Harbor early this morning.

An entire family of eight or nine persons was reported killed by a bomb at Nuʻuanu and Kuakini Sts.

---

Blackout for Oahu ordered

A complete blackout on Oahu has been ordered for tonight, T. G. S. Walker, coordinator of the mayor’s disaster committee, announced at 12:30 this afternoon. The order was requested by the Army, he said. He added that all civilians, except those with special permit cards, must stay off the streets at all times.

At 1:50 p.m., Edouard R. L. Doty, territorial director of civilian defense, ordered a complete blackout every night until further notice. The captain of the port announced that all aids to navigation such as lights, buoys, lighthouses, have been extinguished.

It was also announced that no vessel will be permitted to move in the harbor or leave the harbor without special permission from the captain of the port.

Another order said that all licenses of alien-owned small crafts have been revoked. This means that all alien-owned small craft are subject to seizure.

R. L. Doty, civilian defense director, said the civilian population is advised to keep radios on 24 hours a day and all orders would be read over the radio.

He also announced that all movie theaters have been ordered closed until further notice.

All householders are instructed to fill bathtubs and other receptacles with water in the event that the water works are damaged and unable to function.

---

WIRELESS BULLETINS

British officials reserve comment

London, Dec. 7 (UP) –
News of the attack on Pearl Harbor and Army and Navy bases at Manila tonight electrified British officials who reserved comment on the possibility of British assistance, but one said:

This looks like the real thing.

Churchill examines Britain’s position

London, Dec. 7 (UP) –
Prime Minister Winston Churchill tonight was ”examining Britain’s position” in face of the new Japanese outbreak in the Pacific, it was stated authoritatively.

Radio, cable censorship established

Washington, Dec. 7 (UP) –
President Roosevelt tonight summoned the cabinet and Congressional leaders.

London paper flays attack

London, Dec. 7 (UP) –
The London Daily Mail reported tonight that:

Not even Hitler has yet achieved the infamy of a stab in the back while his envoys were still ostensibly negotiating terms of an agreement with an intended victim… that degradation has been achieved by Japan alone.

Rome Radio blames Roosevelt

Rome, Dec. 7 (UP) –
The Rome Radio, broadcasting in English, tonight blamed hostilities in the Far East on President Roosevelt.

The radio said:

Roosevelt’s warmongering program has started the war. First hostilities have occurred between Japanese and American forces in the Far East.

Press reaction, however, was reserved.

The first impression after the surprise part was that Italy must wait for the reaction before any clear-cut attitude can be adopted or action taken.

President Harrison believed sunk

Shanghai, Monday, Dec. 7 (UP) –
The Japanese are believed to have sunk or seized the U.S. liner President Harrison, according to reports here today.

The Harrison should be off the mouth of the Yangtse en route to pick up U.S. Marines on Dec. 10.

It was expected the Japanese would probably intern and disarm 203 remaining United States Marines, except those at Tientsin.

Fate of a group of U.S. Navy men aboard the USS Wake was also not known.

Japanese nationals arrested in Panama

Panama, Dec. 7 (UP) –
It was announced officially tonight that the Panama government ordered arrest of all Japanese nationals.

Stimson orders Army into uniform

Washington, Dec. 7 (UP) –
Secretary of War Henry L. Stimson tonight ordered the entire U.S. Army into uniform – 1,600,000 men, including thousands of officers and men on duty in administrative posts who heretofore have been allowed civilian clothes.

Germans report Tokyo war announcement

Berlin, Monday, Dec. 8 (UP) –
The official DNB news agency reported from Tokyo today that:

According to the Tokyo radio, Japaese military headquarters announced a state of war exists from Monday at 6 a.m. between Japan and British and United States forces in the Pacific.

Admiral Hart says U.S.-Japan at war

Manila, Dec. 7 (UP) –
Admiral Thomas Hart announced tonight that the United States was at war with Japan and “taking steps accordingly.”

Enemy planes or ships had not yet been sighted.

Street lights were burning in the capital, but the city was quite. Newspapers had not yet appeared on the streets.

Sleepy-eyed Army and Navy intelligence officers were informed by the United Press of the Japanese attack on Oahu.

At first they were doubtful of the report, generally commenting:

It doesn’t make sense.

The United Press flash here was apparently ahead of Army and Navy radio.

Admiral Hart and Lt. Gen. Douglas McArthur immediately issued full mobilization orders.

A Navy spokesman said enemy planes had not yet been sighted in Philippine waters but declined to say whether U.S. warships were steaming out of Manila Bay. The spokesman merely reiterated Admiral Hart’s announcement of existence of a state of war with Japan.

Apparently Army men suspected something brewing since during the night numerous units were alerted. Heavy troop transport activities were noticeable in the vicinity of Manila.

Tōjō reports to Emperor Hirohito

New York, Dec. 7 (UP) –
A Dōmei (Japanese) News Agency broadcast heard here tonight said Minister of Navy Admiral Shigetarō Shimada reported to an emergency cabinet meeting that fighting occurred between the United States and the Japanese Navy.

The broadcast also said that after the cabinet meeting, Premier Gen. Hideki Tōjō reported to Emperor Hirohito.

Tokyo radio silent on Japanese attacks

Los Angeles, Dec. 7 (UP) –
A Tokyo radio broadcast tonight (at 6:20 a.m. Tokyo Time) did not mention any attack on Hawaii or the Philippines.

---

Kennedy Is Acting Chief

Lt. Eugene Kennedy of the police department was appointed Acting Chief of Police shortly before noon to serve at the police headquarters in the absence from the station of Police Chief W. A. Gabrielson. Mr. Kennedy announced that all leaves and days off for police officers have been cancelled.

---

Japan consul raided

Washington, Dec, 7 (UP) –
The Japanese Embassy late today started burning secret documents. There was no police protection in front of the embassy.

A dramatic raid on the Japanese consulate this morning by detectives and police caught the staff of the consulate in the act of burning documents and records.

A tipoff from one of the four policemen who had been assigned to guard the Nuʻuanu St. consulate brought seven men headed by Lt. Benjamin Van Kuren, chief of detectives, and Lt. Yoshio Hasegawa to force their way into the consulate office where a small fire was burning to destroy documents.

Nagao Kita, consul general, was being interviewed by a Star-Bulletin reporter on the steps behind the consulate office when the car carrying the detectives entered the grounds at 12:20.

Lt. Hasegawa rushed up the steps, the men following him, past the consul general and into the hallway of the consulate office.

Inside the building, the smell of burning paper was strong and in a moment, the detectives had forced their way into a rear room, completely surprising three consulate staff members who were grouped around a small fire on which were burning records and documents.

Several safes in this room were wide open and apparently the consulate workers were taking out records and burning them as fast as possible.

A police guard stationed at the consulate said it was the smell of burning paper which prompted him to call the detectives.

Two carloads of detectives were dispatched.

When the detectives broke into a backroom, they found a smoke-filled room with doors and windows tightly locked.

The fire was immediately put out. It was burning on an overturned washtub with buckets of water nearby to extinguish the flames.

Detectives threw water on the burning documents and carefully searched all consulate personnel, including the consul general. Several were in other rooms.

Throughout the raid, neither the consul general nor his staff resisted, though one of them cussed, evidently resenting what he believed was the rough intrusion and handling.

Four regular police and provisional guards were sent at 10:30 this morning to guard the consulate, 1748 Nuʻuanu Ave.

They patrolled outside the consulate grounds on Nuʻuanu Ave. and Kuakini St., and also were stationed on the grounds.

One of them remarked after the raid that, though he suspected “something” was going on inside the consulate office, he did not have authority to break in.

The raid interrupted an interview in which the consul general urged the Japanese people in the islands:

…to remain calm and law-abiding.

Earlier in the morning, at another interview, he said he had thought the bombing of Honolulu was “maneuvers” by the U.S. forces here.

When informed that there were casualties, he remained unconvinced that the bombing by Japanese planes had actually taken place.

Likewise, Otojiro Okuda, vice consul, expressed surprise and disbelief when told that:

…this bombing is serious.

All Japanese banks were taken over this morning, it was reported at Iolani Palace.

[NormanStewart]

President Roosevelt’s message to Congress
December 8, 1941, 12:30 p.m. EST

Audio of the session linked below:

Mr. Vice President, Mr. Speaker, members of the Senate and the House of Representatives:

Yesterday, December 7, 1941 – a date which will live in infamy – the United States of America was suddenly and deliberately attacked by naval and air forces of the Empire of Japan.

The United States was at peace with that nation, and, at the solicitation of Japan, was still in conversation with its Government and its Emperor looking toward the maintenance of peace in the Pacific. Indeed, one hour after Japanese air squadrons had commenced bombing in the American island of Oahu, the Japanese Ambassador to the United States and his colleague delivered to our Secretary of State a formal reply to a recent American message. And while this reply stated that it seemed useless to continue the existing diplomatic negotiations, it contained no threat or hint of war or of armed attack.

It will be recorded that the distance of Hawaii from Japan makes it obvious that the attack was deliberately planned many days or even weeks ago. During the intervening time the Japanese Government has deliberately sought to deceive the United States by false statements and expressions of hope for continued peace.

The attack yesterday on the Hawaiian Islands has caused severe damage to American naval and military forces. I regret to tell you that very many American lives have been lost. In addition American ships have been reported torpedoed on the high seas between San Francisco and Honolulu.

Yesterday the Japanese Government also launched an attack against Malaya.

Last night Japanese forces attacked Hong Kong.

Last night Japanese forces attacked Guam.

Last night Japanese forces attacked the Philippine Islands.

Last night the Japanese attacked Wake Island.

And this morning the Japanese attacked Midway Island.

Japan has, therefore, undertaken a surprise offensive extending throughout the Pacific area. The facts of yesterday and today speak for themselves. The people of the United States have already formed their opinions and well understand the implications to the very life and safety of our nation.

As Commander-in-Chief of the Army and Navy, I have directed that all measures be taken for our defense.

But always will our whole nation remember the character of the onslaught against us. No matter how long it may take us to overcome this premeditated invasion, the American people in their righteous might will win through to absolute victory.

I believe that I interpret the will of the Congress and of the people when I assert that we will not only defend ourselves to the uttermost but will make it very certain that this form of treachery shall never again endanger us.

Hostilities exist. There is no blinking at the fact that our people, our territory and our interests are in grave danger.

With confidence in our armed forces – with the unbounding determination of our people – we will gain the inevitable triumph – so help us God.

I ask that the Congress declare that since the unprovoked and dastardly attack by Japan on Sunday, December 7, 1941, a state of war has existed between the United States and the Japanese Empire.

[grayknight1781]

@NormanStewart

a date which will live in infamy

Originally it was written as “a date which will live in world history”, But it was changed at the last second. I think it was a good move.

Also, love the work you did on the picture of the speech Norman!

[NormanStewart]

JOINT RESOLUTION

Declaring that a state of war exists between the Imperial Government of Japan and the Government and the people of the United States and making provisions to prosecute the same.

Whereas the Imperial Government of Japan has committed unprovoked acts of war against the Government and the people of the United States of America:

Therefore be it Resolved by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That the state of war between the United States and the Imperial Government of Japan which has thus been thrust upon the United States is hereby formally declared; and the President is hereby authorized and directed to employ the entire naval and military forces of the United States and the resources of the Government to carry on war against the Imperial Government of Japan; and, to bring the conflict to a successful termination, all the resources of the country are hereby pledged by the Congress of the United States.

SAM RAYBURN
Speaker of the House of Representatives

HENRY A. WALLACE
Vice President of the United States and the President of the Senate

Approved —
Dec. 8, 1941, 4:10 p.m. EST
FRANKLIN ROOSEVELT

[NormanStewart]

The Pittsburgh Press (December 8, 1941)

U.S. DECLARES WAR!
1,500 die in Hawaii; fleets clash

Tokyo claims sinking of 2 American battleships; Manila bombed
By Joe Alex Morris, United Press staff writer

The United States and Britain smashed back at Japan today on a 6,000-mile Pacific war front that flamed from Hawaii’s coral beaches to the jungle shores of Malaya and Thailand.

The American battle fleet was reported challenging the Japanese striking force which raided Hawaii with heavy loss of life and naval damage. A great naval engagement was rumored in the waters west of America’s Pacific Gibraltar.

The White House announced that 1,500 persons were killed in the Japanese attack on the Hawaiian island of Oahu yesterday.

Germany announced that the drive to capture Moscow had been abandoned “for this winter” because of the severe Russian weather.

Here is the picture of the war in the Pacific:

London

Prime Minister Winston Churchill carries Britain into war against Japan with a formal declaration before Parliament.

Tokyo

Japanese naval command claims sinking of U.S. battleships Oklahoma and West Virginia; damage to four other battleships; damage to four heavy cruisers; heavy destruction of U.S. planes; probable sinking of U.S. aircraft carrier (rumored to be the Langley); capture of “many” enemy ships; sinking of U.S. minesweeper Penguin at Guam.

Hawaii

White House reports 3,000 casualties, including 1,500 fatalities, in Japanese air attack; loss of “old” American battleship and destroyer.

Washington

American battle fleet is carrying out sweeping operations and has destroyed “a number of” Japanese submarines and planes, it is announced. Congress declares war.

Thailand

Apparently caves in to the Japanese with little or no fight; Tokyo claims Japanese troops moving into the country under “agreement” reached with the Bangkok government; Japanese reported swarming into southern Thailand in preparation for drive on Singapore.

Singapore

British battle Japanese landing forces which have established series of beachheads along eastern coast; Royal Air Force heavily engaged.

Manila

Waves of Japanese bombers attack key points in Philippines, including U.S. Army base at Fort Stotsenburg, Davao and the vicinity of Baguio. Japanese landings rumored but not confirmed.

Chungking

China moves to declare war on Germany and Italy as well as to formalize the long existing state of war with Japan.

China

Japanese attack Hong Kong twice by air; take over Shanghai International Settlement; occupy Tientsin British concession and intern 200 American Marines.

Pacific Isles

Japanese attack American islands of Guam and Wake, capture of Wake reported; attack British island of Nauru; Japanese naval squadron reported off Cocos Islands in the Indian Ocean.

Australia and the Dutch East Indies

All armed forces on the alert; no Japanese attacks yet reported.

Berlin and Rome

Indicate Germany and Italy will join their Axis partner in war against the United States but no tangible action yet.

The Japanese Imperial forces, said to have suffered severe losses of airplanes and several warships, were in action on these fronts:

1. A major naval battle was reported west of Hawaii, with the American fleet attempting to destroy enemy warships and airplanes that blasted Pearl Harbor Naval Base and Honolulu.

2. A fierce land battle was in progress on the northeast coast of the Malay States where British defense forces attacked. Japanese troops landed on the beaches despite severe air bombing and machine-gun fire.

3. About 30,000 Japanese troops in 60 vessels, escorted by warships, were believed to have landed on the Malay coast.

4. Japanese invasion forces bombed and shelled Bangkok, crashed into Thailand by land and sea, and were reported in a British broadcast to have forced that government to capitulate. The occupation of Thailand would open the way for Japanese drives on Burma and the Burma Road supply route to China and would set up a base for a drive southward against Singapore.

5. Waves of Japanese bombers battered northern, central and southern areas of the Philippine Islands, reportedly causing several hundred casualties.

6. The great British naval base at Singapore was attacked from the air, with 60 persons reported killed and 133 injured.

7. A Japanese landing in North (British) Borneo was reported repulsed with heavy casualties, according to London dispatches, but the same notice heard that the American island of Guam had been attacked from all sides and that aerial bombardment had started several big fires.

Australia and the Dutch East Indies joined in the war on Japan, but there were increasing hints from Berlin that the conflict would become an outright Axis battle against the Allied powers. A Nazi spokesman said that an important statement might be forthcoming later and the Berlin press hinted that Germany would aid Japan. There was still no word of the position of the Soviet Union.

On the Chinese coast, the Japanese attacked Hong Kong by air and by land and conquered the International Settlement at Shanghai after sinking the British gunboat Peterel and seizing the American gunboat Wake. U.S. Marines at Beiping and Tientsin were disarmed and interned.

The Emperor of Japan, “seated on the throne of a line unbroken for ages eternal,” declared war on the United States and Great Britain on the grounds that the Allied powers had threatened the existence of the Japanese Empire and the “new order” in East Asia. On the outcome of this struggle, he said, Japan’s rule would rise or fall.

But even before the declaration of war was known, the Japanese forces were attacking in blitz fashion.

The first blow fell in the Hawaiian Islands. Japanese four-motored bombers, dive bombers and torpedo planes flashed across the mountains of Oahu Island and swooped down on American warships in the Pearl Harbor Naval Base, the Gibraltar of the Pacific.

Honolulu was bombed and furious air attacks were launched on Hickam Field, Ford Island in the center of Pearl Harbor airbase and nearby military barracks, while torpedo planes with the red symbol of the Rising Sun on their wings slashed repeatedly at warships in the harbor. More than 100 and possibly close to 200 American airplanes were reported destroyed or damaged, but official sources declined to confirm those reports.

A United States Army transport carrying lumber was sunk by a Japanese submarine 1,300 miles west of California, two oil tankers were reported afire at Pearl Harbor and fear was felt for three big American liners – the President Pierce (converted into the Army transport Gen. Hugh L. Scott), the President Coolidge and the President Harrison. All three were in the war zone in which Japanese warships and submarines were operating and fear was expressed that they had been seized or possibly attacked.

The American fleet, steaming out of Pearl Harbor, was believed to have struck back at the attacking airplanes and the warships on which they were based and some reports – so far unverified – said that a Japanese aircraft carrier, four submarines and at least six bombers had been destroyed.

Heavy gunfire was heard west of Honolulu and both American and Japanese sources reported a major naval battle was believed to be in progress.

In the Philippines, the Japanese air fleet struck at Davao, on Mindanao Island, where the greatest Japanese population is centered, and at Baguio, 12 miles north of Manila, on the west central coast of the island of Luzon. Five deaths were listed, but reports that the Japanese population on Mindanao had seized control of the island lacked confirmation.

The American defense forces, including airplane squadrons, went into action from bases in the Philippines.

The pattern of the Japanese assault – a blitzkrieg-type series of smashes at rear-line bases over a vast sea area – began to take shape more clearly this morning as the British bases nearer to Japan were attacked.

The aerial and naval blows at Oahu Island, the center of American defense in the Hawaiian Islands, had been launched at a distance of about 3,500 miles from Japan and probably 1,800 miles from the nearest Japanese bases in the mandated Marshall Islands. As a result, the assault was regarded to some extent as a suicide raid designed to knock out as much as possible of the main American base and the fleet’s striking power.

Attacks in the Malay States and Thailand, however, were of a sustained nature and carried out by large expeditionary forces assigned to occupy Thailand and attack the British naval base at Singapore, where a strong British fleet, including the 35,000-ton battleship Prince of Wales, arrived last week.

Japanese aerial squadrons raided Singapore and there were some claims that two British cruisers had been knocked out. A British communiqué, however, said only that slight damage was caused. There were a “few” civilian casualties.

On the northeast coast of the Malay States, however, the Japanese landed from transports despite heavy British air attacks. Some of the landing parties were repulsed but a British communiqué issued at Singapore said that fighting was in progress on the beaches near Kota Bharu, an important railroad town toward which the Japanese were attempting to fight their way. The British said they had sunk some of the Japanese ships and scored a direct hit on a barge filled with Japanese soldiers in the Kelantan River.

Reported by a Dōmei News Agency broadcast from Tokyo, a Japanese communiqué said that Singapore had been “severely” bombed and that the landing operations had been carried out successfully.

10 Japanese ships in the Gulf of Siam, off Bangkok, were bombed by the British, but later reports said that Bangkok had been bombed by air and shelled by Japanese ships off the coast.

Still another sector of the widespread battlefront was active along the Chinese coast.

At Hong Kong, Japanese airplanes attacked the main British defense sector while Japanese troops on the Chinese mainland began an assault on the land defense. The aerial bombardment of Hong Kong was described as heavy.

Britain’s defense at Hong Kong had been described as exceptionally good and it was believed that the island could hold out for some time.

Northward at Shanghai, Japanese guns along the Huangpu River opened fire as Japanese marines took over the famous waterfront – including all big commercial establishments – in the International Settlement. The British gunboat Petrel went down in flames after her 63-year-old master, Lt. Cdr. Polkinghorn, opened fire with two machine guns on the Japanese. He was reported lost.

At Tientsin, 63 U.S. Marines were said to have been disarmed and interned.

In the Far North, there was no word as to developments around Vladivostok or the American bases on the Aleutian Islands, extending westward from Alaska, but it was believed likely that the Japanese would act – now or later – to prevent the United States from using any bases on Soviet soil for attacks on Japan. Vladivostok would be the best base for air raids on Tokyo.

No word had come from the Soviet Union in regard to the new war front in the Pacific, although Japanese newspapers had charged last week that the Russian government had joined the “pro-United States” front and boosted its Siberian frontier army to 840,000 men.

Elsewhere throughout the world, the new war front overshadowed the great conflict in North Africa and in Russia, where the Red Army said it had routed the Germans with thousands of casualties on the Mozhaysk sector before Moscow and were gaining ground in an attempt to entrap enemy forces near Tikhvin, southeast of Leningrad. The Axis troops were reported forced back 75 miles west of Rostov.

On the diplomatic front, declarations of war against Japan were issued by Canada, the refugee Dutch government and Costa Rica, as Britain went through the formalities of carrying out Prime Minister Winston Churchill’s pledge to join the United States “within the hour” of war with Japan.

In the Dutch East Indies, the Governor-General proclaimed war on Japan and mobilized all frontier areas while the Dutch air fleet joined with the British in fighting Japanese attacks in the Singapore area.

In the Canal Zone, United States authorities took urgent precautions against danger to the Panama Canal. All Japanese nationals were being rounded up and it was understood that Italians and Germans would also be arrested.

The fighter planes and anti-aircraft batteries of Pearl Harbor and environs dropped at least six of the Japanese planes. Four Japanese submarines were known to have been sunk.

A Japanese war communiqué heard by NBC described the attack on Hawaii as a “great success.”

Secretary of State Cordell Hull issued a statement which asserted that “Japan has made a treacherous and utterly unprovoked attack upon the United States” at a time when its representatives were discussing peace.

Washington was on a war footing. Throughout the country, Army and Navy personnel were ordered to their posts and aircraft observers were called to duty to man coastal observation points along the Southern California coast.

[NormanStewart]

3,000 Hawaiian toll admitted

Battleship, destroyer, many U.S. planes lost

Washington, Dec. 8 (UP) –
Casualties on the Hawaiian island of Oahu in yesterday’s Japanese air attack will amount to about 3,000, including about 1,500 fatalities, the White House announced today.

The maximum casualties for any one 24-hour period in London in the heavy air raids were about 1,200 – 450 killed and 750 injured. That would indicate that the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor which resulted in 1,500 killed was exceptionally intense or else the bombs landed on barracks or some other place where many persons were concentrated.

The White House confirmed the loss in Pearl Harbor of “one old battleship” and a destroyer, which was blown up.

Several other American ships were damaged and a large number of Army and Navy airplanes on Hawaiian fields were put out of commission, the White House disclosed.

The Japanese radio heard in New York claimed today that Japanese naval forces have sunk two American battleships – the 20,000-ton Oklahoma and the 32,600-ton West Virginia – and an aircraft carrier and damaged four other U.S. battleships, four heavy cruisers and inflicted other widespread losses on American sea forces.

The White House also reported that American operations against Japan were being carried out on a large scale, resulting already in the destruction of:

…a number of Japanese planes and submarines.

The White House statement said:

American operations against the Japanese attacking force in the neighborhood of the Hawaiian Islands are still continuing. A number of Japanese planes and submarines have been destroyed.

The damage caused to our forces in Oahu in yesterday’s attack appears more serious than at first believed.

In Pearl Harbor itself, one old battleship has capsized and several other ships have been seriously damaged.

One destroyer was blown up. Several other small ships were seriously hurt. Army and Navy fields were bombed with the resulting destruction of several hangars. A large number of planes were put out of commission.

A number of bombers arrived safely from San Francisco during the engagement – while it was underway. Reinforcements of planes are being rushed and repair work is underway on the ships, planes and ground facilities.

Guam, Wake and Midway Islands and Hong Kong have been attacked. Details of these attacks are lacking.

200 Marines – all that remain in China – have been interned by the Japanese near Tientsin.

[NormanStewart]

WAR BULLETINS!

100 casualties reported in Jap raid

Manila, Dec. 8 –
Press dispatches reported that 100-200 troops, 60 of them Americans, were killed or injured today when Japanese warplanes raided Iba, on the west coast of the island of Luzon, north of the Olongapo Naval Base.

Haiti declares war on Japan

Port au Prince, Haiti, Dec. 8 –
Haiti declared war on Japan today.

Honduras declares war

Tegucigalpa, Honduras, Dec. 8 –
The Congress of Honduras, by a unanimous vote, declared war on Japan today and ordered martial law for the duration of the war.

Cuba’s cabinet votes for war

Havana, Dec. 8 –
The Cuban cabinet, at a special session today, voted to ask Congress to declare war on Japan. Premier Carlos Saladrigas said the cabinet would henceforth be “in permanent session.”

Netherlands at war

London, Dec. 8 –
Queen Wilhelmina said today the Kingdom of the Netherlands considers itself at war with Japan and puts all of its military and power resources at disposal of the common war effort.

RAF bombs Jap transports

Singapore, Dec. 8 –
Royal Air Force planes today carried out intensive bombing attacks on Japanese transports attempting to land troops along the northern Malayan coast.

Hong Kong beats off raiders

Hong Kong, Dec. 8 –
Two air raids by Japanese planes on Hong Kong were beaten off by anti-aircraft fire today and damage was not important, a British command communiqué said.

U.S. move to evacuate Grew

Washington, Dec. 8 –
Secretary of State Cordell Hull told his press conference today that the State Department is seeking to repatriate Ambassador Joseph C. Grew and his staff from Tokyo, as well as other American nationals in Japanese territory.

Japs seize U.S. Marines

London, Dec. 8 –
Radio Rome reported today that the Japanese had taken 63 United States Marines prisoner in the Tientsin area of China.

British tell Japs to report

London, Dec. 8 –
Japanese nationals in Britain who are more than 16 years old have been asked to report as soon as possible to the nearest police station with their registration certificates, so the certificates can be endorsed, the Home Office announced today.

Navy requests blackout

Los Angeles, Dec. 8 –
Naval authorities early today requested that the Long Beach and San Pedro harbors be blacked out. The Navy asked that all non-essential lights be turned off, including those at vital industries such as oil plants, wherever possible. Autos and trucks were asked to use only dim lights.

Japs seize British concession

London, Dec. 8 –
The British concession at Tientsin, North China, has been occupied by Japanese troops, according to an official German news agency broadcast heard by the United Press listening post.

Japan pledges 'safety’

London, Dec. 8 –
The Japanese radio said today that Tomkiza Hori, spokesman for the Japanese Information Bureau, had announced every possible precaution would be taken to insure the safety of U.S. and British nationals in Japan. Hori said Japan’s treatment of enemy nationals would be affected by the treatment accorded Japanese nationals by the United States and Britain.

China to declare war

Chungking, Dec. 8 –
Chinese Foreign Minister Quo Tai-chi today said China has decided to declare war against Germany and Italy as well as Japan, against which the Chungking regime has never made a formal declaration.

Hong Kong blockaded, Japs say

New York, Dec. 8 –
The Japanese Navy is completely blockading the British Crown Colony in Hong Kong, the Japanese Dōmei News Agency said today in a broadcast heard by the United Press.

Japan claim pact with Thailand

New York, Dec. 8 –
The Japanese official radio claimed today that an “agreement” was reached with Thailand at 12:30 p.m. to allow passage of Japanese troops through that country. The broadcast was heard by the United Press. Japanese headquarters reported that troops started to enter Thailand this afternoon, Radio Tokyo reported.

Air-sea battle reported

New York, Dec. 8 –
The United Press today heard Radio Vichy broadcast Tokyo reports that a great air-sea battle was in progress off the Philippines coast.

Jap again raid Philippines

London, Dec. 8 –
The German radio quoted Japanese Imperial Headquarters today as reporting that Japanese fighter planes made a strong attack on the “most important points” of the Philippines today, inflicting severe damage. No Japanese planes were damaged in the raids, Tokyo asserted.

Japanese troopships hit

San Francisco, Dec. 8 –
The Singapore radio heard by the United Press here today reported that two American-built Hudson bombers operating off the northern Malayan coast had scored direct hits on two Japanese troopships and another Hudson bomber had scored a direct hit on a barge loaded with Japanese soldiers.

U.S. seizes 736 Japs

Washington, Dec. 8 –
Attorney General Francis Biddle announced today that FBI agents had seized 736 Japanese nationals in the United States and in the Hawaiian Islands last night.

Mandated islands attacked

New York, Dec. 8 –
Japanese forces in the Western Pacific have attacked the Australian-mandated Ellice and Ocean Islands, both of which are rich in phosphate deposits, according to a British broadcast heard by NBC. The islands are northeast of Australia.

Rome sees Axis at war with U.S.

New York, Dec. 8 –
CBS today quoted the Rome radio as saying that Japan’s declaration of war against the United States involves:

…the existence of a state of war between the two Axis powers and the United States.

The Manila correspondent of NBC quoted the Tokyo radio as saying Germany will shortly follow Japan in a declaration of war against the United States.

Japs declare defensive zone

Berlin, Dec. 8 –
All waters around Japan have been declared a defensive zone by the Japanese Navy, the official German news agency reported from Tokyo today.

Thailand studies Jap 'proposal’

Bangkok, Dec. 8 –
The Thai cabinet has been in session since 2 a.m. studying “Japanese proposals;” it is understood the British have presented “a counterproposal.”

First Lady going to coast

Washington, Dec. 8 –
Mrs. Franklin D. Roosevelt, an assistant director of the Office of Civilian Defense, will leave for the Pacific Coast by airplane tonight to assist emergency civilian defense work. The extent of her stay will be determined by the necessities of the situation.

Australia enters war

New York, Dec. 8 –
Premier John Curtin has announced that Australia is at war with Japan, according to an Australian radio broadcast heard by CBS. NBC said Australia’s decision was taken at an extraordinary cabinet meeting at Melbourne.

[NormanStewart]

Senate’s vote unanimous; House ballots 388–1; victory pledged

By Lyle C. Wilson, United Press staff writer

Bulletin

New York, Dec. 8 –
An NBC correspondent at Manila reported today that:

Manila is now under Japanese air bombardment.

The Japanese attacked Fort William McKinley, just outside Manila, and Nichols Field on the outskirts of the city, he reported. Another attack was attempted against the RCA transmitter, he said.

Washington, Dec. 8 –
Congress today proclaimed the existence of a state of war between the United States and the Japanese Empire 33 minutes after the dramatic moment when President Roosevelt stood before a joint session to pledge that we will triumph – “so help us God.”

Democracy was proving its right to a place in the sun with a split-second shift-over to all-out war.

The Senate acted first, adopting the resolution by a unanimous roll call vote of 82–0, within 21 minutes after the President had concluded his address to a joint session of both houses.

The final House vote was announced as 388–1. The lone negative vote was cast by Rep. Jeannette Rankin (R-MT), who also voted against entry into World War I.

The resolution now has to be signed by Speaker Sam Rayburn and Vice President Wallace before it is sent to the President at the White House. His signature will place the United States formally at war against the Japanese Empire, already an accomplished fact.

The resolutions were before both Houses within 15 minutes of the time. Mr. Roosevelt ended his seven-minute, 500-word extraordinary message.

There was a half-second of uncertainty in the House when Representative Rankin objected to unanimous consent for immediate consideration of the war resolution.

Speaker Sam Rayburn brushed the objection aside. It was she who in the small hours of April 6, 1917, faltered, wept, and finally voted “No” against a similar resolution aimed at Germany.

When the clerk came to her name on the roll call today, she voted “No” again. A chorus of hisses and boos greeted her vote, the first cast against the war resolution.

Rep. Harold Knutson (R-MN), who also voted against American entry into World War I in 1917, said today this nation:

…has no choice but to declare war on Japan.

Knutson told reporters:

I do not see that we have any other notice. They declared war on us.

Miss Rankin and Knutson are the only present members of the House who voted against war in 1917.

Only Miss Rankin and Rep. Clare Hoffman (R-MI) had remained seated when the House gave a standing ovation in response to Roosevelt’s solemn statement:

I ask that the Congress declare that since the unprovoked and dastardly attack by Japan on Sunday, December 7, 1941, a state of war has existed between the United States and the Japanese Empire.

In a staccato of short sentences, the President told where the Japanese had hit yesterday throughout the Pacific area and how their representatives here had at the same time been continuing deceptive and false negotiations for maintenance of peace. And he said, simply, that he had ordered:

…all measures to be taken for our defense.

The President said grimly:

Always will our whole nation remember the character of the onslaught against us. No matter how long it may take us to overcome this premeditated invasion, the American people in their righteous might will win through to absolute victory.

Under parliamentary procedure, one chamber must approve the resolution adopted by the other. Since the Senate acted first, its version was substituted by the House for the House resolution which differed in a few minor words.

Emery L. Frazier, legislative clerk of the Senate and a former member of the Kentucky Legislature, took the resolution over to the House after the Senate passed it.

The Senate received the resolution back from the House at 1:37 p.m. while Mr. Connally was debating the necessity for strict anti-strike legislation with Senator James E. Murray (D-MT). Mr. Murray asserted that strict legislation was unnecessary.

Just as he finished, Alney E. Chaffee, House reading clerk, entered the door and with a stiff bow announced that the House had passed a resolution declaring the “existence of a state of war with Japan.”

Mr. Connally said:

There is the answer to the Senator’s convention.

The resolution was laid on the table for a while as Mr. Connally and Mr. Murray continued their debate.

Just before adjourning at 2:05 p.m. until noon tomorrow, the Senate gave consent for Vice President Wallace to sign the historic resolution after the session. He planned to do so in a ceremony in his office after Speaker Rayburn signs for the House.

Chairman Tom Connally (D-TX) of the Senate Foreign Affairs Committee introduced the war resolution in the Senate at 12:50 p.m. He asked for its immediate consideration but Senator Arthur H. Vandenberg (R-MI) asked him to suspend the request so he could comment upon the resolution.

Mr. Vandenberg told the Senate that:

When war comes to us… I stand with the Commander-in-Chief, notwithstanding past differences on foreign policy.

He said that:

…there can be no shadow of doubt as to our answer to Japan.

…and added that:

…you [Japan] have unsheathed the sword and by it you shall die.

When Mr. Vandenberg concluded, the Senate roll call on the Connally resolution was taken.

Democratic Leader John W. McCormack of Massachusetts introduced the resolution in the House.

He moved immediately for a suspension of the rules and passage of the resolution.

Miss Rankin rose and said:

I object.

Speaker Sam Rayburn said:

There can be no objection. This is not a unanimous consent request.

McCormack then yielded himself 20 seconds in which he demanded immediate action on the resolution.

House Republican Leader Joseph W. Martin Jr. then obtained the floor.

Cry 'vote, vote’

Cries of “vote, vote” went up from the Democratic side.

Mr. Martin said he hoped there would not be a dissenting vote cast on the war resolution.

Mr. Martin said:

The nation faces the greatest crisis since the establishment of the republic. All we hold dear has been challenged by a ruthless unscrupulous, arrogant foe.

Ships and planes have been bombed, cities and towns under the American flag have been bombed.

We are compelled by this treacherous attack to go to war.

There can be no peace until the enemy has paid a full measure for its dastardly crime.

More cries of “vote, vote” when Mr. Martin concluded.

’Won’t be long’

Mr. Rayburn said:

It won’t be long. Let us keep order.

The cries concluded, however, when Mr. Martin yielded three minutes to Rep. Hamilton Fish (R-NY), who said the time for action had come.

Mr. Fish said:

There can only be one answer and that is war and final victory, cost what it may.

He added:

The Japanese have gone stark, raving mad.

I shall at the proper time volunteer my services as I did in the last war.

There is no sacrifice I will not make to annihilate these war-mad Japanese devils.

’Sit down’

Miss Rankin was standing, seeking recognition, when Mr. Fish concluded.

Someone called:

Sit down, sister.

Mr. Rayburn ignored her and Mr. McCormack yielded to Rep. Sol Bloom (D-NY) and Rep. Luther A. Johnson (D-TX).

Date in 'live in infamy’

Mr. Roosevelt promised, in his seven-minute, 500-word address, that we would never forget the treacherous manner of the onslaught and that before we are through Japan will be powerless to offend so again.

He said:

Yesterday, December 7, 1941 – a date which will live in infamy – the United States of America was suddenly and deliberately attacked by naval and air forces of the Empire of Japan.

The President, preceded by the escorting Senate-House Committee, went into the House chamber, supported by his son, James, who wore his uniform of a Marine captain. He was greeted by a thundering ovation after he was presented to the assemblage by Speaker Sam Rayburn.

The ovation swelled in volume as the President reached the Speaker’s stand and a rebel yell went up from the Democratic side.

War plea cheered wildly

The chamber was jammed. Members of Congress and spectators listened gravely and quietly as the President began his speech at 12:33 p.m.

But there was wild cheering when the President reached the point in his brief state paper asking for a declaration that a state of war exists.

The President did not mention Germany and Italy – Japan’s Axis partners in Europe.

Await further news

Congressional leaders had awaited the President’s message to decide whether to formulate a declaration of war only against Japan, or against Germany and Italy as well.

The President was apparently awaiting further information as to what Germany and Italy will do.

The President spoke to a tense, hushed joint session of both houses less than two hours after he had announced, through his secretary, 3,000 American casualties in the Japanese assault on the island of Oahu in the Hawaiian group. Of those casualties, 1,500 were estimated to have been killed.

Sink Jap subs

United States counteraction, the White House announced, has accounted for a “number” of Japanese warplanes and submarines. The Japanese toll of American warships in Pearl Harbor was one unidentified battleship which had capsized and one destroyer, which had exploded. Numerous American planes were destroyed and other warships damaged.

Meanwhile, at a press conference, Secretary of State Hull told reporters that at the time of his meeting with the Japanese Ambassadors yesterday he heard rumors of a Japanese attack on Hawaii but had not obtained official confirmation.

He said he did not wait to check the rumors but received the envoys on their own representation that they wished to visit him.

The White House reported that one old battleship capsized in the attack on Pearl Harbor, one destroyer was blown up and:

…several other American ships were damaged.

Jap subs sunk

It declared that American countermeasures had accounted for:

…a number of Japanese planes and submarines.

The President was particularly gratified this morning over the mounting reaction of the country expressed to the White House in hundreds of telegrams and telephone calls.

Express 'horror’

Secretary Stephen Early told a press conference that the tremendous volume of messages to the President:

…all express horror at this attack and pledge full loyalty to the President and the government.

The messages came from governors, mayors, religious leaders, heads of civic movements, newspaper editors and radio broadcasters, many offering their personal services.

Assemble casualty lists

Even as the American armed forces in the mid-Pacific and the Far East defended this country with their lives and blood against the Japanese blitzkrieg, the War and Navy Departments were assembling data for the first casualty lists.

There were already scattered reports throughout the country that relatives of dead or missing men had received private notification of the sacrifice.

Congress, meanwhile, moved on other fronts to speed every facility for the successful prosecution of the war. The House Military Affairs Committee scheduled a meeting for tomorrow to repeal legislation restricting the use of selectees and National Guardsmen to the Western Hemisphere and United States possessions.

The action would remove any doubt as to the authority of the President to do away with that prohibition. There had been some belief that he would dispense with it during actual war.

Scores treachery

Symbolic of the unity which had swept a determined nation overnight was the comment of Rep. William G. Stratton (R-IL), who hitherto has opposed President Roosevelt’s foreign policy.

He said:

There can be no question as to the stand that will be taken by every true American. This treacherous attack on the United States by Japan will be met and avenged by a united and aroused people. We will not be satisfied merely with victory – Japan must be destroyed as a military power.

To get what he asks for

Congressional leaders said the President would get whatever he asked for today. One high-ranking Democrat said:

It would be difficult to prevent Congress from declaring war today.

Fighting actually began yesterday. By sundown in the Far East, it extended over a sweeping Pacific area of thousands of square miles from the Asian mainland to a point east of Hawaii where a lumber-laden American transport was torpedoed and sunk between those islands and the American continent.

The President had already ordered our armed forces to strike back and the war was on –declared or not.

Police shooed crowds away from the immediately vicinity of the White House. But in Lafayette Park, just across Pennsylvania Ave., some hundreds gathered and then sang “America” and “God Bless America” as the conferees streamed out of the mansion. There had been a moment of excitement earlier in the day when crowds assembled around the Japanese Embassy in Massachusetts Ave. where attachés were firing papers in big packages each equipped with a fuse and powder charge. But there was no violence there and none elsewhere in Washington in the first hours of our active participation in World War II.

Fitting neatly into the spectacular pattern of yesterday’s events was Japan’s final diplomatic move here, a request for an appointment with Secretary of State Hull. The hour was fixed at 1 p.m., just 25 minutes before the bombers zoomed low over Pearl Harbor. Ambassador Kichisaburō Nomura and special envoy Saburō Kurusu actually reached the department more than an hour later and some 40 minutes after bombs fell on Hawaii. They delivered their government’s reply to Hull’s Nov. 26 statement of basic principles for peace in the Pacific, a reply which rejected the principles, accused the United States of seeking to extend the war, and so enraged Mr. Hull that he blasted at Nomura that the note from Tokyo was a concoction of:

…infamous falsehoods and distortions.

Discloses documents

The State Department immediately made public the American statement of basic principles. the Japanese reply and Mr. Roosevelt’s Saturday peace proposal directed to Emperor Hirohito. There was speculation here whether the President’s message ever reached the Emperor at all.

Mr. Hull is expected to send to Congress today “a white paper” containing a chronological history of U.S.-Japanese relations which preceded yesterday’s attacks. This is customary procedure preceding a formal declaration of war.

Plainclothesmen were sent to the British Embassy. British Ambassador Lord Halifax cancelled all engagements and was in constant communication with the White House and London.

The President considered declaring martial law in Manila. This would place the Army in supreme control there.

Chinese Ambassador Hu Shih spent 40 minutes with Mr. Roosevelt. He said the Japanese attack was “sheer madness.”

Robert Sherwood, playwright, who has helped the President to prepare some of his most important papers, was being flown here from New York by special plane.

With him were Vice President Henry A. Wallace, Secretary of Labor Frances Perkins and Postmaster General Frank Walker.

Not 'knocked out’

White House conferees who last night heard the worst straight from the lips of the President came out acknowledging the force of the Japanese attack, but assuring all comers that we are not being “knocked out” in the Pacific.

Far from it. The United States Navy and Air Force are believed to be counterattacking and naval sources said we could carry the war directly to Japan by air.

Those conferees were solemn men as they emerged into night. White House police guards surrounded the mansion. It was no pocket pistol guard, either, but big, brawny bluecoats who had rifles and Thompson submachine guns in the crooks of their arms. This was no night for prowlers at 1600 Pennsylvania Ave. or elsewhere in Washington because the Army was on guard too.

Street lights dimmed at 12:48 a.m. today in a semi-blackout and District of Columbia officials called on all citizens to use a […] night lights.

General Robert E. Wood, chairman of the America First Committee, climbed out of an airplane on LaGuardia Field, New York, last night and said:

We will support the war.

The national board of directors of the America First Committee in Chicago simultaneously urged its members to give full support:

…to the war effort of this country until the conflict with Japan is brought to a successful conclusion.

[NormanStewart]

Arnold youth dies in battle

First Pittsburgh District victim of Japs

Pvt. George G. Leslie, 20, USAC, killed yesterday in the Japanese attack on the Hawaiian Islands.

The Pittsburgh District’s first casualty of the war in the Pacific was announced by the War Department today.

The parents of Private George G. Leslie, 20, an enlisted man in the U.S. Army Air Forces, were informed that their son had been killed in the Japanese attack on the Hawaiian islands.

The following message was sent to Mr. and Mrs. George S. Leslie, of Arnold:

Your son, Private George G. Leslie, died at approximately 10 a.m., Dec. 7, a battle casualty, from gunshot wounds. Any other information will reach you from the War Department.

Private Leslie, who is survived by a brother and two sisters, enlisted in the Air Corps last April and was taking personnel managements training in Hawaii. He was a graduate of Arnold High School.

[NormanStewart]

Casualty list

By the United Press

The first United States casualties in the Japanese attacks were revealed today in word sent to the parents of the victims by the Navy Department.

An official list of casualties is expected to be issued at Washington later.

The dead:

• 1st Lt. Hans Christiansen, 21, Woodland, Cal.
• 2nd Lt. George A. Whiteman, 21, Sedalia, Mo.
• Private George C. Leslie, 20, Arnold, Pa.
• Private Robert Niedzwiecki, 22, Grand Rapids, Mich.
• Private Dean W. Cebert, Galesburg, Ill.

[NormanStewart]

Declarations of war

By United Press

Declarations of war since Japan’s attack on the United States:

• United States on Japan.
• Japan on the United States and Great Britain.
• Great Britain on Japan.
• Nicaragua on Japan.
• Canada on Japan.
• The Netherlands on Japan.
• Honduras on Japan.
• Costa Rica on Japan.
• Manchukuo on the United States.
• Free France on Japan.
• Haiti on Japan.
• Belgian government-in-exile on Japan.

Imminent declarations:

• South Africa on Japan.
• Australia on Japan.
• Chungking on Japan and the Axis.
• Cuba on Japan.

[NormanStewart]

Isolationists change views as Japs attack

Wheeler says: Bombs mean war and we’ll have to see it through
By John R. Beal, United Press staff writer

Washington, Dec. 8 –
Isolationist sentiment in Congress disappeared today almost without a trace.

The men who have fought President Roosevelt’s foreign policy joined his supporters in calling for war in answer to Japan’s attack.

Senator Burton K. Wheeler (D-MT), spearhead of Congressional opposition to President Roosevelt, said the Japanese bombs dropped at Pearl Harbor:

…mean war and we’ll have to see it through.

Senator Gerald P. Nye (R-ND) said in a speech at Pittsburgh that:

If the facts are presented, there is only one thing for Congress to do – declare war.

Mr. Nye, however, was critical of administration conduct of the negotiations with Japan, accusing the government of “doing its utmost to provoke a quarrel” with her.

Party lines erased

But most members of the non-interventionist bloc put aside recriminations as out of place now that attack has come to the United States. One after another, wherever the news reached them, those who have been associated with opposition to the government’s program of aid “short of war” urged that the nation use its resources to the utmost to defend itself.

Party lines were declared erased for the duration of the war. Senate Republican Leader Charles L. McNary of Oregon said as he left last night’s White House conference that:

…the Republicans will go along on whatever is done.

House Republican Leader Joseph W. Martin Jr. (Mass.) added that the minority members of the House:

…naturally resent the cowardly attack by Japan and will support the President in his effort to maintain the integrity of the United States.

Attack aids unity

The consensus was that the method of Japan’s attack amounted to invasion and could not have brought greater instant unity to the nation than if it had been calculated for this purpose.

This is how some of the outstanding Congressional foreign policy opponents reacted to the Japanese bombings:

Chairman David I. Walsh (D-MA) of the Senate Naval Affairs Committee said:

The unexpected and unprovoked attacks upon United States territory and ships and the formal declaration of war by Japan leave Congress no choice but to take speedy and decisive measures to defend our country. We must promptly meet the challenge with all our resources and all our courage, and place our faith in God to protect us in this hour of national peril.

Rep. Hamilton Fish (R-NY), one of the bitterest of the President’s opponents, said he intended to appeal in the House for complete support from all factions.

Senator Robert A. Taft (R-OH) said:

Undivided and unlimited prosecution of the war must show that no one can safely attack the American people.

Senator Arthur H. Vandenberg (R-MI) called for:

…a victorious war with every resource at our command.

[NormanStewart]

After America was at war –
America Firsters jeer President as Nye and others conceal awful truth

Army colonel ejected as he tried to tell of Jap attack
By Adam Smyser

The Japanese attack edged dramatically into a three-hour meeting of the America First Committee yesterday, but even when the strained session ended, the audience was still applauding declarations for peace.

The America Firsters hardened to hecklers by this time – even booed a colonel in the United States Army (wearing civilian clothes) out of their meeting when he tried to break the news of the Japanese attack, and it was a full hour later that they finally heard the news in a brief note read by Senator Gerald P. Nye, one of the isolationist leaders.

The weird meeting started in the Soldiers’ and Sailors’ Memorial Hall at 3 p.m., just early enough for the audience of 2,800 not to have heard radio flashes of the attacks on Hawaii.

But the full retinue of speakers knew the truth – newsmen had rushed up to them with press association and radio flashes and had quizzed them for reactions that were guarded and cautious.

Senator Nye said:

If Japan attacked, there is nothing left for Congress to do but declare war.

…adding that:

It wouldn’t change my non-interventionist opinions materially on the European war.

When the meeting started, the audience was still unaware that the United States had been attacked.

American flags waved from all corners of the hall. “NO WAR” said a sign on the speaker’s podium. And – on the wall over the heads of the speakers – in strong red letters was Lincoln’s Gettysburg Address.

With no hint of the startling news, the meeting proceed on it strained way –

Through choral selections by the Bellevue Methodist Church choir; an invocation by Rev. John McKavney of St. John The Evangelist Church; an appeal by Attorney John B. Gordon, Pittsburgh America First chairman, not to be afraid to stand for peace:

This is America. All shades of opinion are entitled to be heard.

Irene Castle McLaughlin, dancing widow of dancing Vernon Castle, knew the startling news when she took the stand for her first America First talk, but she didn’t mention it.

While she spoke – telling of her husband who was killed in World War I and of a son she doesn’t want to sacrifice in another war – a U.S. colonel, Enrique Urrutia Jr. and his wife walked into the meeting.

Col. Urrutia, executive officer of the Pittsburgh military reserve area, had heard of the Japanese attack before he started out on a Sunday stroll.

He sat inquiringly through the talk of Mrs. McLaughlin and through the opening remarks of the next speaker, ex-State Senator C. Hale Sipe of Freeport.

When Mr. Sipe wound up a denunciation of Stalin and Harry Hopkins with the dramatically intoned statement that “the chief warmonger in the United States is the President of the United States,” the audience broke into wild applause and Col. Urrutia exploded.

He bounced up from his seat:

Mr. Speaker, please, can I ask a question? I wonder if the audience knows that Japan has attacked us and that Manila and Pearl Harbor have been bombed by the Japanese.

The boos and jeers that America First is accustomed to give to those who interrupt drowned out most of his words.

The crowd shouted:

Get out, you don’t belong here.

Police and ushers hustled down the aisle to the colonel, who was not in uniform.

He told them he was an Army colonel. They told him to get out. Outside he showed them his credentials and they changed their attitude. He left anyway, after explaining that his wife and he merely had been on their daily walk and dropped in on the meeting out of curiosity.

Before he left, the Colonel exploded once more:

This is a meeting of traitors.

But that had happened in the lobby and the audience for the most part was still ignorant of the amazing news the speakers kept to themselves.

Ex-Senator Sipe went on with his talk, still blasting the interventionist leaders. He called Wendell Willkie “the mouthpiece of Roosevelt” and Secretary of War Henry Stimson, he said:

…sleeps at cabinet meetings.

America First passed its collection baskets, asking for a dollar from each person. Frank T. Stockdale, treasurer of the Pittsburgh chapter of America First, said:

If it had not been for the America First Committee, we would be in the war at this time.

When Senator Nye, the featured speaker, finally got a chance to talk, the meeting was almost two hours old. It was 4:50 p.m. (and for two hours previously the speakers knew that America had been attacked).

Wild cheering greeted his announcement that:

Never, never, never again must America let herself be made such a monkey of as she was 25 years ago.

Newsmen who knew what had happened kept asking themselves what he would say of the Japanese attack. The answer seemed like:

Nothing.

The isolationist Senator hit at the church for denouncing war six years ago and condoning it now. He called the Chicago Tribune’s story of a five-million-man AEF an “accurate revelation.”

He said:

Crush Hitler if you will, but what will you have destroyed? You will have destroyed a result, not a cause.

We went forth and crucified Kaiserism and got Hitlerism.

He lampooned the national debt, said America was fighting Britain’s war, quoted figures to show Britain had suffered fewer casualties than any of its important allies and hit at the American draft.

Finally – at 5:20 p.m. – a reporter walked to the stage with a note for the Senator. It told of the Japanese declaration of war.

The Senator looked at it, took off his glasses, nodded his head, and kept on with his peace speech. He seemed frustrated.

He laughed at the U.S. destroyer-base deal, talked about Canadian hog prices and said:

We are scared to death that if the British Navy falls, we are done for. The only Navy on earth that we have ever had to prepare against is that same British Navy. May God forbid the day that ever finds us placing dependence on any other nation than our own.

Then he veered toward Japan.

He talked of British propaganda in the last war. The English propagandists concluded, he said, that:

…perhaps the only way we can get the United States on our side in the next war is to make certain that Japan is against Britain.

He told the audience:

You have seen a studied effort to pick war with Japan.

He paused, and then picked up the note.

Mr. Nye said:

I have the worst news that I have had in 20 years to report this afternoon. The Japanese Imperial Government at 4 p.m. announced a state of war between it and the United States and Britain.

The audience was stunned.

Only one voice was heard:

Throw the President out!

The Senator said:

I am going to withhold any comment until I can find out what this is all about.

He switched to a talk on the USS Greer torpedoing, which he said was provoked by the U.S.

He said President Roosevelt had misled the American people into believing it was unprovoked.

He shouted:

I don’t know what I may be privileged to say to do tomorrow. But today I can say it and I am going to say it – THAT IS CHEATING.

The audience broke into applause and it cheered again as he said that:

Christianity and intervention are as completely opposite as anything under God.

Crowds buzzed up to talk to the Senator after the closing services.

A newspaperman cornered him first:

Do you think Britain will help us now, Senator?

Senator Nye said:

Yes. The same way she helped Poland and Czechoslovakia.

Said the smiling friends:

That was a wonderful talk, Senator.

Will there be printed copies of it available?

I want to congratulate you, Senator.

It looked as though it was going to take the Monday newspapers to prove the jolting truth – America was at war.

[NormanStewart]

Nye says Roosevelt ‘cheats’ U.S.

Five hours after Japan declared war upon the United States, U.S. Senator Gerald P. Nye, chief senatorial isolationist, told a Pittsburgh audience President Roosevelt’s address on the Greer incident was “cheating.”

The utterance was made last night before more than 600 persons in the First Baptist Church, Bellefield Ave., after he had been introduced by its pastor, Rev. Dr. Bernard C. Clausen.

’Why, he’s pro-Nazi’

In closing his talk, however, Senator Nye left off from his blasting of Roosevelt and the policies which the speaker said had led us to war by saying that if the facts are as presented, there is but one thing for Congress to do, declare war against Japan.

Not once was there a protesting note struck while Senator Nye spoke. Afterward, when he had retired to Rev. Dr. Clausen’s study preparatory to leaving for Washington with his wife by train, many of those leaving the church were outspoken in their comment.

One woman was heard to exclaim:

Why, he’s pro-Nazi.

Another remarked:

He should be ashamed of himself, in times like these.

Senator Nye said:

The President told you the Greer was attacked. He said the Greer was on the way to Iceland with mail for our sons. That was cheating. Write to your Senator and have him send you a copy of this letter, of Admiral Stark, which shows the Greer, informed by a British airplane, hunted down the submarine until it fired twice blindly.

’Never such betrayal’

I feel I have the right to say this without injuring my country. This country has been doing the utmost to provoke a quarrel with Japan. Negotiations for peace? At every turn our negotiators denied the Japanese representatives a chance to “save their face.” They wouldn’t give them a chance to agree with the U.S.

If we were bluffing, then our hands have been called. Now we have war there and it will be only a back door to war elsewhere. There never has been such betrayal; there never has been such cheating to accomplish what has been accomplished in the last two years.

Senator Nye mentioned how, years ago, a young Under Secretary of the Navy, referred to war with Japan as preposterous. Senator Nye quoted the writer as saying:

Unthought of; both sides would drop from exhaustion and it would be folly.

Then he said:

That writer was Franklin Roosevelt.

[NormanStewart]

America First asks support of war

Chicago, Dec. 8 –
The national board of directors of the America First Committee today urged its members to give full support:

…to the war effort of this country until the conflict with Japan is brought to a successful conclusion.

The America First statement was issued by Clay Judson, a national director, after it had been approved by all other executive heads of the committee.

The statement:

Today the military forces of Japan have without warning attacked this nation and the Japanese government has formally declared war upon us. This must be followed by a similar declaration on the part of the United States and by all out hostility.

The America First Committee urges all those who have subscribed to its principles to give their support to the war effort of this country until the conflict with Japan is brought to a successful conclusion.

In this war, the America First Committee pledges its aid to the President as Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of the United States.