Pearl Harbor Survivors Remember Attack

December 7, 1941 is a day Albert and Geno Morosi will never forget.  On that day, 69 years ago, the two brothers were serving in the US Navy on board the USS Maryland. Albert Morosi, who was only 19 years old, remembers clearly the morning of the Pearl Harbor attack.  "There were three of us. We were on the quarter deck and we were drinking a cup of coffee. We saw the planes. We didn't pay much attention to them coming in, until they started straight for the ships and the island. We could see the emblem and we knew it was the Japanese. It was a perplexing day, believe me."

Albert ran to the lower deck of the ship to help supply ammunition while his older brother, Geno, was sent up above to man anti-aircraft guns. Geno remembers scrambling to get into position, "It was Sunday, some people went to church, some had shore leave, so they sent us up on the aircraft guns. Did we hit anything? I don't know. It was zoom, they were gone, ya know." The USS Maryland was tied to the USS Oklahoma which acted as a barrier, but after being attacked the Oklahoma started to capsize threatening the Maryland and everyone on it. "They (sailors) cut our connection between us and the Oklahoma," recalls Geno Morosi. "I couldn't believe it. I couldn't believe the devastation that was behind us... it was quite a shock to see that."  Geno later witnessed the Oklahoma exploding into flames. "It blew. Fire came out. Blew the guys over the side and everywhere else."

One day later, December 8, 1941, Albert wrote a post card to his parents  in Illinois to let them know he was alive. The post card read: "I am well. Letter to follow at first opportunity." That same day, Albert and other sailors formed a working rescue party to go on board the USS West Virginia and assess the damage. "There were parts of bodies laying all over the deck and everything else, that was something I never wanted to see again." The surprise attack by the Japanese on Pearl Harbor in Hawaii took the lives of 2,400 Americans.

After the war, Albert settled in California and Geno in Michigan. They still talk on the phone about once a week. While the number of Pearl Harbor survivors is rapidly declining, approximately 3,000 are still alive, Albert says he doesn't view himself as a hero. "The ones who survived aren't the heroes, it's the ones who perished are the ones who should really be remembered, they gave their lives."
Read More: Pearl Harbor Survivors Remember Attack

Pearl Harbor Survivors Remember Attack

Remembering Pearl Harbor: 69 Years

Yesterday, December 7th, 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.Always will be remembered 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.With confidence in our armed forces — with the unbounding determination of our people — we will gain the inevitable triumph — so help us God.
— from Franklin D. Roosevelt’s December 8, 1941 speech to Congress.

Today marks the 69 year anniversary of the attack on Pearl Harbor. The surprise attack shocked the nation and catapulted the United States into World War II. It was, at the time, the worst attack on American soil. 1,178 were wounded. 2,043 were killed. The water itself burned and bodies of the injured and the dead piled up.

As more are more Pearl Harbor survivors and World War II veterans leave this Earth, it becomes more and more of a distant historical event that we no longer honor and no longer remember. Each year, Pearl Harbor gets a little closer to becoming one of those events that we will only know of thanks to a few pages in a history book. The vast majority of survivors are gone now, and when there are none left, who will keep their memory alive? Who will honor the sacrifices of the fallen? Where survivors once fought the Japanese, they’re now fighting time — fighting to keep the memory of their fallen brothers alive, fighting to ensure that we continue to remember and honor Pearl Harbor always.This summer, my husband and I chose to go to Hawaii for his pre-deployment leave. One of our first stops was at Pearl Harbor and the USS Arizona Memorial. We had the honor and privilege of meeting several survivors before riding out to the watery tomb of the 1177 American heroes killed that day. 33 survivors of the bombing of the Arizona chose to be interred with their shipmates.
Read more: Remembering Pearl Harbor: 69 Years

Remembering Pearl Harbor: 69 Years

Extra! Extra! How Did Journalists Cover Pearl Harbor The Day After?

Oday they may have Tweeted: "Thousands dead in Hawaii after JP attack. Worst ever on homeland. FDR: US in it to win it."
But on Dec. 8, 1941, one day after the bloodiest attack on U.S. soil by a foreign country, news organizations attempted to make sense of it all. Far removed from the future 24/7 news cycle, the correspondents of the era had only bits and pieces of information from the Japanese assault on Hawaii and did their best to put it into a broader context. Looking back on the articles on the 69th anniversary, the stories are often unclear about exactly how the attack on the Pearl Harbor Naval Base happened. What was evident, however, was that it was destined to bring about another world war. Its conclusion remained unknown.The crash of exploding bombs in the Hawaiian Islands, Guam and possibly the Philippines, the roar of anti-aircraft guns and the twisted, flaming skeletons of wrecked planes heralded the war of the Pacific, with the principal antagonists the United States and Japan – a war that has been long brewing, a conflict often predicted but previously avoided. But the Japanese aggression yesterday did more than start a Pacific war. It broadened the conflicts already raging into a world-wide struggle whose end no man can know.

Read more: Extra! Extra! How Did Journalists Cover Pearl Harbor The Day After

Extra! Extra! How Did Journalists Cover Pearl Harbor The Day After?