Second Source Find a second source that describes what it was like to be witness to the attack on Pearl Harbor Compare the information there to the information in this source early a common military habit Harvey chose to sleep late and ease into the day on that day Do not get me wrong Harvey is not lazy He is an energetic and driven man How could he not be He has risen quickly through the military ranks He joined the Naval Aviation Cadets in 1939 and became a full-fledged pilot in 1940 Soon after he was assigned to the flying squadron right here in Pearl Harbor in the Territory of Hawaii Our lives were perfect Suddenly we were both shaken by a sound that could only be an explosion We looked at each other I tried to stay calm thinking it may just be a drill but Harvey moved quickly to look out the window I knew something was terribly wrong when Harvey called my name in a way that alarmed me It was both urgent 6
Fort Kamehameha named for a Hawaiian king was located on the east side of the entrance to Pearl Harbor 7
and calm at the same time I asked him what was wrong He told me he saw smoke coming from Hickam Field He was right to be alarmed This is Hitting the Airfields First Before bombing the ships anchored on Battleship Row the Japanese hit U S military airfields on Ford Island Many aircraft were destroyed when they were sitting on the airfields unaware that the attack was coming It was an attempt by the Japanese to prevent an American counterattack to protect the ships But most of the aircraft were away from the harbor at that time The aircraft that were not destroyed would be incredibly important to the United States effort in the war After attacking the airfields the Japanese launched their attack on the battleships 8
On the day of the attack 51 airplanes were on the ground at Hickam airfield Half were destroyed or severely damaged 9
