at Ford Island his white uniform was almost black and he had to convince the marines patrolling the shore that he was not a Japanese invader T m navy I'm with the United States Navy Don't shoot he shouted Matthews spent the rest of the day helping the wounded and hauling damaged aircraft off the runways Runways littered with wrecked aircraft would be useless if the enemy returned The remaining men knew they had to be ready for a fight MASS DESTRUCTION AMERICAN THE ATTACK LOSSES Matthews was not the only one unprepared Although the two waves of Japanese attacks for a Japanese attack on the morning of lasted for less than two hours in total the United December 7 The attack caught the entire States suffered massive losses of men and equipment 2 403 people were killed of whom US military off guard 68 were civilians 1 178 people were wounded When Commander Logan C Ramsey 188 aircraft were destroyed and 21 ships looked out from the Ford Island Command were sunk damaged or destroyed including Center he thought the low flying aircraft battleships cruisers and destroyers he spotted was a careless US pilot But when a black object dropped from the plane Ramsey realized it was a bomb From the radio room he telegraphed a hasty message not even taking the time to put it in code All bases and ships received this transmission AIR RAID ON PEARL HARBOR THIS IS NOT DRILL With this warning the men did all they could to prepare for an attack but for many the alert came too late 12
THE FATE OF THE USS ARIZONA The USS Arizona was hit by several LIGHT LOSSES THE JAPANESE STORY bombs one of which penetrated the ship The Japanese did not expect to attack Pearl and detonated ammunition stores The Harbor without suffering any losses on their side Indeed they anticipated the destruction of up explosion ruptured the hull and gutted the to three of their six aircraft carriers Despite this front section of the ship Turrets and other their actual losses included only 29 aircraft 5 parts of the superstructure collapsed and midget submarines and 64 men killed the ship sank settling on the harbor floor Of the 1 512 men on board the Arizona at the time of the attack 1 177 died This was nearly half of the total number of US soldiers and sailors lost that day Many of the men aboard the Arizona died in the explosions or fires but others drowned trapped as the ship quickly sank Matthews's friend Stafford was one of the many men killed that day At the time of the attack the United States and Japan were not at war However leaders from both countries had been working in the background preparing for the day that war would come The Japanese had decided to attack on their terms instead of waiting for the Americans to strike the first blow 13
OAHU HAWAll LOCATIONS OF THE JAPANESE ATTACK OPANA RADAR SITE OAHU WHEELER FIELD PEARL HARBOR HICKAM FIELD HONOLULU
PEARL HARBOR RALEIGH UTAR NEVADA CURTIS FORD ISLAND VESTAL ARIZONA WEST VIRGINIA TENNESSEE OKLAHOMA MARYLAND CALIFORNIA HELENA ISLALAIN HONOLULU SHAW PENNSYLVANIA WHESD CASSINA HELM UNDAMAGED SHIPS HOSPITAL POINT I DAMAGED OR SUNSHIPs
