Customer Reviews

Air Raid, Pearl Harbor!: Recollections of a Day of Infamy

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As with all of Stillwell's books, this one is entertaining. The variety and different aspects of the stories in this piece make it a keeper. If the attack on Pearl Harbor is of any interest to you, you really need to consider adding it to your collection. I met the author on a recent trip to Hawaii and found him to be a really interesting person to talk to. Buy a Stillwell book and you will get your money's worth.

Numerous recollections by men and women who were there, including some Japanese pilots and seamen. Very well done, interesting photos that are not often seen and a freshness of recollection that is lost in secondary histories. A moving and impressive book.

There are a lot of reasons to find Ben Affleck's Pearl Harbor movie bad. A bad story based more on Star Wars than on what happened with a pathetic love triangle and unreal characters. Indeed, of all the characters, only one, the guy Cuba Gooding Jr played was real.

This book with the recollections of those there would have made a better movie. All of the people in here are real. And very very fascinating. From Tai Sing Loo the Hawaiian born Chinese Photographer's eyewitness accounts to Japanese admiral Kickisaburo Nomura, from Navy wife Peggy Ryan (no relation) to Arizona survivor V Adm Kleber S. Masterson, this book provides the reader great insights into this event.

Would make a great movie.

Bottom-Line: I would highly recommend "Air Raid: Pearl Harbor; Recollections of a Day of Infamy."

On the morning of December 7, 1941, as the sun rose into the sparkling blue Hawaiian sky, and men were just waking to a new day onboard ships of the U.S. Pacific Fleet, a wave of 181 planes and 3 submarines of the Imperial Japanese Navy (IJN) began a surprise attack. The IJN carrier force, which comprised six aircraft carriers, under the command of Vice Admiral Chuichi Nagumo sailed in stealth North West of the Hawaiian Island chain having gotten underway in secret from the Japanese home islands.

The attack and its incredible loss of life and material brought the United States into World War II, at 6:00 a.m. on that faithful morning. The attack damaged or destroyed twelve American warships, including the U.S.S. Arizona (BB-39), U.S.S. Nevada (BB-36), and U.S.S. Oklahoma (BB- 37), destroyed 188 aircraft, and killed 2,403 American servicemen and 68 civilians. However, the Pacific Fleet's four aircraft carriers--U.S.S. Lexington (CV-2), U.S.S. Enterprise (CV-6), U.S.S. Hornet (CV-8) and U.S.S. Yorktown (CV-5)--were not in port and so were left undamaged, as were the base's vital oil tank farms, submarine pens, and machine shops. Using these resources the United States was able to rebound within a year. A fifth carrier, the U.S.S. Saratoga (CV-3) was undergoing overhaul on the west coast at the time of the attacks.

President Franklin D. Roosevelt characterized the attack on Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941, as a "date which will live in infamy." It has been that and more for more than two generations of Americans. Together with the great Depression, and the War in Vietnam, the events mark the watershed events of 20th century America. The attack on Pearl Harbor helped to shape America's perception of the world and her place in it. It woke America up to the realities of the outside world and how her policies can and do inform how other nations react and act towards us. It is a lesson I fear has been lost on this generation of leader and citizens; hence 9/11.

My active duty naval service began on September 29, 1980 when I graduate from Great Lake Naval Station boot camp, a seaman in the world greatest Navy. My first duty station was Pearl Harbor Naval Station where I rode submarines. The naval base is steeped in history, and all of the bases that were open on that faithful day in 1941 are still open to this day. I was assigned to the Naval Security Group Detachment on Hospital Point, the very same place where the battleship US.S. Nevada (BB-36) ran aground down at the bow from a torpedo strike and numerous bomb blasts.

I visited and later worked on Ford Island, then a naval air base, but now a training facility; I used to run by the still rusting and jagged hulks of ships the navy never salvaged. And I have visited Hickam Air Force base and touched the place where the bullet holes still mark the Japanese attack. The buildings are still very much in use on the base.

I have visited too the sunken wreck of the battleship U.S.S. Arizona (BB-39); stood on the memorial hall erected over her and watched as the drops of oil leach from her hull and gleam on the surface of the harbor, knowing that here in this place rests 1,102 of the 1,177 sailors killed when she was attacked. Upon my visit to this hallowed ground I stood transfixed, staring down at the water at the rusting battleship mere feet below, and I was humbled and close to tears. And each time I would sail into Pearl Harbor on the deck of many a ship my heart beat strong with pride and reference for those who had come before me and defended this great nation with their blood, bravery, valor, and honor.

These experiences led me to seek a much richer understanding of the events that led up to, and took place during the attack on Pearl Harbor. That quest led me to "Air Raid: Pearl Harbor; Recollections of a Day of Infamy." The book is compilation of first hand accounts from American and Japanese military and civilian personnel and gives a unique perspective on the attack. The first chapter, entitled I Led the Attack on Pearl Harbor is by one Captain Mitsuo Fuchida who was the commander of the air groups of the First Air Fleet, which consisted of the IJN aircraft carriers Akagi, Kaga, Soryu, Hiryu, Shokaku, and Zuikaku.

These first hand accounts are riveting and startling in their depth and detail, and for me they shed a whole new light on the events of the day. But more importantly it paints the Japanese with a very human brush, revealing a portrait of a people just as proud and fearful as any of us.

There are many, many eye-witness accounts in "Air Raid: Pearl Harbor; Recollections of a Day of Infamy" all told 44 in all, each bring a fresh new perspective to the attack and it grueling aftermath. The book is replete with black and white photos of men and machines of war, broken and unbroken, shattered and whole. There are quite a few excellent overhead photos of Peal Harbor that show the naval base and Hickam Army Airfield (now Hickam Air Force Base) in stark relief. Shown too are photos of the Japanese players in this sad drama.

I would highly recommend "Air Raid: Pearl Harbor; Recollections of a Day of Infamy." From start to finish to book covers the attack from multiple angles and after reading it I came a way with a much deeper understanding of what happened at Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941 and why.