(stately music) - [Announcer] The electronic field trip "Remember Pearl Harbor", how students like you experience the Day of Infamy is made possible by Lillian and Jimmy Maurin with additional funding by the Joe W. and Dorothy Dorsett Brown Foundation and by the Dudley and Constance Godfrey Foundation and the Dale E. and Janice Davis Johnston Family Foundation.

- I was out in the yard playing and I saw this Japanese Zero fly overhead.

- Planes came over, over the treetop and that's my first view not knowing that was Japanese at all.

Being an 11-year-old kid, seeing all the planes was something that was really exciting to me.

I never saw so many.

Planes were flying all over the sky.

- I was in the Navy and what got our attention first was the noise the dive bombers were making coming down.

So we all run out the front of the hanger and looked up.

Didn't realize instantly that they were Japanese.

- When the Zero passed over he went to Pearl.

- And of course when they pulled out of their dives you could see the red circle on the wings.

Then there was the matter of self-preservation.

Get undercover somewhere.

(exploding) - [Eddie] I saw a big plume of smoke go up.

I hear it.

It went up 200 feet.

It was not black, it was red.

That was the Arizona and eventually it turned black.

- [Man] Seeing the plane, seeing that explosion, hearing the explosion, the bombing, the fire, the smoke, to the gun fire, that was was really something.

- Our life was changed because it was fear.

We lived in fear for a long time and with all the restrictions, the martial law, like blackouts, like rationing, and censorship.

That was something that we had to grow up with.

- [Tom] The Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor in Hawaii on December 7th, 1941, changed life for all Americans.

Shock spread throughout the nation as the devastating news interrupted radio broadcast and burst onto newspaper headlines.

The next day, the United States was officially at war.

In this electronic field trip on this 75th Anniversary of the Pearl Harbor attack, eyewitnesses and survivors explain to our student reporters and to all of you why we should remember Pearl Harbor.

(whooshing) - Yesterday, December 7th, 1941, a date which will live in infamy.

- President Franklin Roosevelt's call to duty and to war still echoes today at Pearl Harbor and throughout this country, especially here at the National World War II Museum in New Orleans.

I'm Tom Gregory, and welcome to this electronic field trip where you'll have a chance to learn more about the Day of Infamy, which happened 75 years ago on December 7th, 1941.

When Japan attacked the United States at Pearl Harbor.

The attack brought the US into World War II changing the lives of all Americans.

We're going to learn why Japan attacked Pearl Harbor?

How Japan attacked Pearl Harbor?

What happened after the attack?

Including what happened to student's lives?

And where we can remember Pearl Harbor and continue to learn about it's significance in American History?

We want to hear from you.

You'll be able to send in your answers to the questions we ask, but first you'll need to text WYESFIELDTRI069 to 22333, and you'll be set up to send in your answers.

You can also respond right on your computer on the page you're watching us right now.

We'll also be answering your questions throughout this field trip.

Email questions to fieldtrips@wyes.org.

But now, let's check out some of the places we'll visit.

(upbeat music) (whooshing) We'll start off our adventure right here at the National World War II Museum in New Orleans, Louisiana.

This museum tells the story of the American experience in the war that changed the world, why it was fought, how it was won, and what it means today.

Next, we're traveling over 4,000 miles from New Orleans, to the beautiful islands of Hawaii.

Hawaii is made up of eight volcanic islands.

The big island is called Hawaii, but the island we're going to be talking about is Oahu where the geography creates a great natural port for ships.

Hawaii's position in the middle of the Pacific Ocean made it a perfect location for US military bases providing protection for our country and protecting American power across the world.

The main military base?

You guessed it, Pearl Harbor.

To help us explore the attack on Pearl Harbor, let me introduce you to our two student reporters, Julia in Hawaii, and Eliana here at the museum in New Orleans.

Hi I'm Julia at Pearl Harbor on the island of Oahu in Hawaii which is where I live and go to school.

I'm gonna show you this historic site and others around the island in just a few minutes.

- I'm Eliana at the National World War II Museum in New Orleans, where we'll explore fascinating exhibits and artifacts.

(whooshing) - [Tom] In addition to providing an in depth look at artifacts, and historic sites.

Julia and Eliana are going to bring you to the scene of the attack, and talk to people who experienced it, including some who were kids around your age on December 7th, 1941.

(whooshing) They're also in charge of helping us answer those four important questions.

Why did Japan attack Pearl Harbor?

How did Japan attack Pearl Harbor?

What happened after the attack?

And where can we learn more about the attack today?

But they can't do it alone.

We'll need your input too.

So be sure to text and email.

You'll also have a chance to vote on what you'd like to explore both at the museum and in Hawaii.

Right now let's introduce the first poll question.

It's about a vocabulary word, we're going to be seeing several times today.

What does the term propaganda mean?

A, a traditional tall Japanese building.

B, techniques for influencing someone's beliefs and behaviors.

C, a way to make seeds grow more food.

Or D, an opera about a singing panda.

We'll check your responses in a few minutes.

Now let's turn it over to Eliana who is at the museum to answer the question why did Japan attack Pearl Harbor?

(dramatic music) (wooshing) - Hi again, I'm Eliana.

I'm at the museum's newest exhibit, "The Road to Tokyo", to find out why Japan attacked Pearl Harbor.

With me is museum educator Chrissy Gregg.

- Hey Eliana, thank you so much for being here with me today at the museum to learn a bit about this infamous day and how it impacted this entire world.

Now of course we called World War II, World War II for a reason, and it is because conflicts spanned across this entire globe.

And so of course, I had to bring a giant globe with me to learn a little bit more about the geography of the war.

Now what we see on the globe right now, it's Asia and the South Pacific.

So there's some countries we recognize today.

We see China, Thailand, how about the Philippines.

We see Indonesia, and of course we see our main topic today, Japan.

Now if we go back 75 plus years ago, Japan wanted to become a more powerful country, but there were certain resources that they didn't have, that prevented them from doing that.

Look, it's a small country, but if we see here, they were looking all across the rest of Asia and the Pacific, and they saw some of these abundant resources they wanted.

How could they get those resources do you think?

- Trade.

- Yeah they could trade, that was one way, but they also could do something else, invade these places where they saw all of these resources.

So what I have here are actually flags, flags of what country?

- Japan.

- Exactly, and so what we're gonna be doing is placing those flags in the areas Japan invaded.

So first off, let's stick one on Manchuria up here.

That was in 1931.

Next Japan invades China in 1937.

And then stick one down here.

This is French Indochina.

But you know what, we actually haven't talked about all these other flags on the map, do you recognize any flags of these countries here?

- British, French, even the US.

- Yeah, even the United States.

And actually, what we see also, a Dutch flag down here, a Portuguese flag up here.

You probably know that all these countries are thousands of miles away from this area of the world.

And actually these countries own territories in this part of Asia and the Pacific.

And so as they see Japan moving in, they think Japan's invading taking over their territory.

Japan says were not invading, we're not conquering, what we're doing instead is freeing all of these territories from Western control.

- So what does this have to do with Hawaii?

- Ah, good question.

All right you see where we've stuck the US flag right here?

What country is that?

- The Philippines.

- Yeah, that is the Philippines.

Which is of course is a country today, but back then it was a US territory, so the United States sees Japan invading, and they're thinking maybe the Philippines is going to be next.

So the US decides to do certain things to help try to prevent that at least, and so to actually demonstrate that, we gotta turn our globe.

All right, so let's turn it to the United Sates.

Very good.

The US decides to move it's Navy, which is actually stationed in San Diego, California, and they move it all the way over here which is?

Where exactly?

- [Eliana] To our ships in Pearl Harbor.

- Yeah, the ships move to Pearl Harbor, Hawaii.

And so Japan sees that as oh maybe the US is interfering in our plans, so what they decide to do is plan a secret surprise attack.

Where do you think that was gonna be?

- [Eliana] Our ships at Pearl Harbor?

- [Chrissy] Exactly.

- Actually that's where my friend Julia is right now.

Her assignment is to find out how Japan attacked Pearl Harbor.

Our jobs are to report to each other what we've learned.

I'll text her.

(texting) (beeping) (beeping) (texting) (beeping) (beeping) (texting) (beeping) (whooshing) - It looks like Eliana is sharing some details with Julia right now.

And it looks like we've answered our first question, why did the Japanese attack Pearl Harbor?

To stop US interference in it's plans to conquer East Asia.

Let's check on the answers to our very first poll question.

And you voted overwhelmingly 86% that propaganda is a tool to influence beliefs and behaviors.

Right now I'm joined by Kenneth Kaufman, Director of Education at the museum, and it looks like he's holding a piece of Japanese propaganda to share with us.

Welcome Kenneth.

- Oh well hi Tom.

This is a reproduction, or a copy, of a piece of Japanese propaganda aimed at children.

And you can see it shows a map here of East Asia, and there's Japan, and all these children are marching happily together and they're led by a little Japanese boy.

And it's to show that Japan is leading all the Asian children from the Philippines, and Burma, and Vietnam, and they're all happy being led by Japan, because that's what Japan wanted the world to believe.

- Powerful propaganda.

But powerful images don't always mean they're the truth.

Right now let's take a look at some student questions we received so far.

Kenneth we have a question from Joey D. in Ames, Iowa.

"Why did Japan want to take over the United States?"

- Well Joey, actually, thanks for the question first of all.

Japan did not want to take over the United States.

The United States was very far away from Japan, and they really had no reason to want to do that.

They didn't think they could.

They wanted to stop the United States from interfering with their plans in Asia and the Pacific.

So they figured if they knock out our ships at Pearl Harbor, then the United States won't be able to mess up their plans further over in Asia.

- We have one more question from a viewer, and that is, "Why was Japan on the side of Germany in WWII?"

That's from Molly in Baton Rouge.

- Well thanks Molly for that question.

Japan and Germany had some things in common back in the 1930s and the early 1940s.

In Germany, a lot of people, a lot of the Germans, especially the Nazi's felt that the Germans were the best kind of Europeans, and therefore they had the right to take over other countries.

In Asia, a lot of people in Japan at that time, in the government and in the military felt that the Japanese people were the best kind of Asian people and they had the right to take over other Asian countries.

So because they had those similar ideas, they were partners during the war.

- Thanks for that answer Kenneth.

Keep the questions coming.

In our next poll, you our student viewers, will be voting on where our story takes us next.

In a minute Julia, who's in Hawaii, will be trying to answer the question, how did the Japanese attack Pearl Harbor?

But the question for you is do you wanna see A, a fully restored Japanaese fighter plane from 1941, or B, the wreckage of a Japanese fighter plane that crashed during the attack?

Text or click A or B, you only have about a minute to vote, so enter your decision now.

And with that, let's see what Julia is up to in Hawaii.

(dramatic music) (whooshing) - Hi, I'm here at Pearl Harbor with Mr. Jimmy Lee, who was an 11 year old boy when the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor.

He's going to help me explore the sites around Oahu to answer our next question, how did the Japanese attack Pearl Harbor?

- Well let me tell you when I was living here, all I know is that that the planes came over, over the treetops.

You know being an 11 year old kid, hey that was something that was really something, and today when you look at this place here, I mean it's nice and calm.

But you know, 75 years ago, let me tell you, this was heck.

I mean with the planes coming in, the bombing, the fire, the smoke, to the gun fire.

That was really something.

- So it sounds like what you witnessed really stuck with you.

What was Hawaii like before the attack?

- Well before the attack, there was a lot of planes like a everyday thing.

We had maneuvers, and we had ships going in and out there.

We think nothing like that.

And then when it happened, oh I tell you I was so curious, I just ran out there and took a look and saw what the attack was like.

But there's more I wanna show after a while when we get over to the other areas.

See that island in the middle of the Harbor?

That's Ford Island.

The United States Navy found that island to be the perfect place to tie up it's big battleship.

I think that's a good place to start our exploration.

Julia we're now at the Pacific Aviation Museum Pearl Harbor.

And we'll be joined by the Museum Educator, Ford Ebesugawa.

- Hi.

- Hi.

- My friend Eliana back at the National World War II Museum learned all about why the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor, so I'm supposed to find out how?

- Well you've come to the right place.

But we have to start before December 7th.

The planning in Japan for the attack occurred months in advance.

So why don't we learn more about the Japanese strategy.

(whooshing) - [Julia] On November 26th, 1941, six air craft carriers left Japan taking a route across the northern Pacific headed for Hawaii and the United States Pacific fleet anchored there.

By December 7th, the Japanese attack force was about 230 miles northwest of Hawaii.

It was a Sunday morning when their attack began.

Soon after sunrise, the first wave of Japanese planes took off from the decks of their aircraft carriers to begin their attack on Pearl Harbor.

Many US service men and residents on Oahu, were just starting their day when the attack began without warning.

(whooshing) You guys voted on what you wanted to see to tell the story further, let's check out what you selected.

(whooshing) (dramatic music) So it looks like the students chose the Japanese wreckage Zero.

Could you tell us what kind of plane this is, well was?

- Well this is a Mitsubishi Zero.

Again it was fighter aircraft.

This Zero was piloted by Airman First Class Shigenori Nishikaichi, and Nishikaichi's responsibility that Sunday morning was to provide fighter cover and strafing attacks.

Apparently Nishikaichi's aircraft was struck by ground fire.

And he began losing fuel.

In fact he began losing fuel at such a rate, he realized that he could not fly back to his carrier which was over 250 miles north of the island.

So Nishikaichi elected to crash land on the tiny Hawaiian island called Niihau.

- Did the pilot survive?

- Nishikaichi did survive, and the native Hawaiian islanders that resided on the island, they had no idea what had just happened at Pearl Harbor.

So they assumed that Nishikaichi was just a wayward pilot that just happened to crash land on their island.

So when they helped him out of that aircraft, they literally treated him as a guest.

In fact they held a luau for him that evening.

- Wow.

- Ooh, wow.

- So what did he do with the plane afterwards that it looks like this?

- Well because the Japanese Zero was a top secret aircraft, he did not want the aircraft to fall into enemy hands, the Americans.

So Nishikaichi attempted to burn the aircraft.

After a few days later, some of the Hawaiian islanders were able to pick up on the radio what exactly happened at Pearl Harbor.

So they kind of put two and two together and kind of figured Nishikaichi must be an enemy pilot.

So they put him under guard, but Nishikaichi was able to obtain a hand gun, and he literally tried to take over the island.

- And one of the Hawaiian islanders that he attempted to take hostage, defended himself, and ultimately killed Nishikaichi.

(laughs) And military historians believe that this was one of the first land engagements between the United States and Japan on American soil.

- So Jimmy, do you remember seeing any of these kind of planes flying overhead?

- Oh yes, sure did, but let's go outside where we can explain and see it a little better.

(whooshing) - So Hanger 79 was damaged during the attack and is now part of the Pacific Aviation Museum.

- You're correct, yeah.

- Could you tell us a little about it?

- You're correct.

In fact if you look on the Hanger windows there, it's still bears the scars of that December 7th morning, the bullet holes in the window.

Hanger 79 at the time of the attack was a maintenance and engine repair facility.

So you can pretty much imagine this hanger was probably filled with aircraft that were based out of Pearl Harbor at the time.

But rather than hear me talk, why don't we go inside and let's meet somebody that was actually here on the attack.

- [Julia] Okay.

(whooshing) I'm so honored to be with all of you today, thank you.

- Yeah let me introduce these distinguished gentlemen.

On my immediate left is Eddie Young, Ian Bernie, and Dick Girocco.

- So how did you guys feel when you saw all the planes flying overhead or the ships on fire?

How did that stick with you?

- I was 6 and a half, and I just started first grade.

And I was out playing in the yard that Sunday morning.

And I saw some airplanes, and we had never seen an airplane where we lived.

My father was concerned when he heard the shells nearby.

So he pushed me back in the house and we listened to our old Philco tabletop radio, and there was a local radio personality named Webly Edwards, who kept repeating "This is the real McCoy.

"We are under attack.

"This is the real McCoy."

- It was a beautiful Sunday morning, and I got out of my house, and grabbed my old hand me down bicycle.

And I looked out in the sky, and all of a sudden, I saw this Japanese Zero flying overhead, and my neighbor was next to me.

I nudged him and he was about 23 years old.

I was nine, and I told him "Mr. Millimi, "that's a Japanese Zero, "because we draw planes at school, "and I know that's a Zero."

And he said, "Nah, that's one of ours Eddie."

And finally he looked up and he saw the rising sun under the wings.

And later as I looked toward Peal Harbor, when the Zero passed over, he went to Pearl and I saw all the flack in the air.

So I knew this was the real thing.

In a few minutes I saw a big plume of smoke go up, went up 200 feet.

It was not black, it was red.

That was the Arizona.

And eventually, it turned black.

- How about you?

How did you feel?

- Well to begin with, I was in the Navy, and I was in a squadron of PBY Catalina flying boats.

We were based here on Ford island in Hanger 54 which is the next one over from this one.

What got our attention first was the noise the dive bombers were making coming down on our seaplane ramp.

And we thought it was the Army Air Corps playing tricks on us.

They used to come by on occasion and dive bomb mission, drop flour sacks on us.

So we all run out to the front of the Hanger and looked up, didn't realize instantly that they were Japanese.

Of course when they released their bombs, they didn't look like flour sacks.

And of course when the pulled out of their dives, you could see the red circle on the wings.

Then there was the matter of self preservation get under cover somewhere.

And there was no cover at all.

So as luck would have it, they were putting a pipeline of some sort in out here between the hangers and the runway.

And they hadn't put the pipe in it yet.

So we all got in that and basically we were practically underground.

So basically what I remember the most was the noise and the concussions.

After about an hour, everything stopped.

Second wave come over.

After about 15, 20 minutes.

So when that happened, back in the ditch for another hour.

(bombing) - So was there any moment during that morning when you really realized that your life was going to be different?

- When nightfall came, then everyone in the neighborhood was shaking and being afraid that we don't know whether they landed troops or not.

And there were rumors about paratroopers going up through the reservoir and putting poison in the water.

So everybody started filling their bathtubs with drinking water.

- We were out of school for a couple of weeks, and I still have an ID issued by the territory on January 7th, 1942 which coincides with when I was fingerprinted and given an ID, and issued a gas mask.

And I carried that gas mask throughout the war.

- So thank you all so much for sharing your stories with me and thank you for your service to the country.

- You're very welcome.

(whooshing) (dramatic music) - Julia this is another beautiful spot on Pearl Harbor, In there we can learn of the attack in Oahu.

Right here is the Battleship Missouri Memorial.

And out there in the harbor is the USS Arizona Memorial.

Under that memorial, is the sunken remains of the Arizona and her men.

75 years ago, this area from Ford Island was called battleship row where US battleships were lined up on the morning of December 7th.

- [Julia] Battleship row was one of the Japanese pilot's primary targets.

Some dropped specially designed torpedoes that tore huge holes into ships below the water line.

Some dropped bombs onto the decks of the ships producing giant explosions.

The US Sailors headed to their battle stations in a brave effort to down Japanese planes, but did little damage to the enemy.

By the time the attack was over, all eight US battleships were heavily damaged or sunk.

♪ Long may our land be bright - And more than 2,400 servicemen, mostly US Navy sailors, had been killed.

A further 1,200 people were wounded.

- [Jimmy] The deadliest attack that day came when a 1,760 pound bomb was dropped onto the deck of the USS Arizona.

It struck the ships magazine where the Arizona's ammunition was stored.

A massive explosion ripped through the forward part of the ship and created a huge fireball killing 1,177 of the crew on board.

Half of the loss of life at Pearl Harbor on December 7th, 1941, came on the Arizona.

- Wow that is so sad.

This place is so beautiful.

I can't even imagine that, all that destruction happening 75 years ago.

Did the Japanese attack anywhere else that day?

- Oh yes, not only over Pearl Harbor, but over at Hickam, and as I looked up towards the mountainside up there, planes were attacking there too.

And in front of me, they were attacking.

Up there in a place called Ewa.

And of course around the other side of the island, several other bases were hit too.

- The explosion from the USS Arizona was huge, could you see it from where you were?

- Oh yes, I could see it real clearly and I tell you it was something that you'll never forget.

But you know, when we get to the other side, we can go somewhere else and I can show you a better view.

(whooshing) You know here in this fish pond, this is where I grew up.

- So what were you doing up here on the morning of the attack.

- You know I grew up on a farm right here, and that morning, I was feeding the pigs.

That's my job.

Look at that coconut tree.

See how high it is.

Well that plane just came over our pigpen, just that high.

When I looked up there, there were hundreds of planes flying, and it was so, so fascinating to me.

I never saw so many planes in all my life.

- So were you scared when you realized that it wasn't a show and that it was Hawaii being under attack?

- No, was I scared?

The answer is no.

It was exciting.

It was so interesting.

- So did you and your family hide after they realized it was Japanese?

- Well you know we watched for about over an hour and a half and that's when the loud speakers come by, and they said "Hey we're at war.

"We've been bombed by the Japanese."

You know what we did, we took off.

I mean to the mountains up there.

Up in the valley.

Hid out in the caves.

Then we came back home and the attack was over.

Less than three hours it was over.

And one of the things that happened that afternoon of course was martial law came in effect.

And with martial law, we had curfews, we had rationing, and everything else, but from that day on, it was fear.

It was fear.

- [Julia] Although Jimmy was unharmed, 68 civilians were killed during the attack.

Neighborhoods like this one were damaged by the enemy fire.

Take this house right across from Wheeler Army Airfield.

An off target Japanese bomb landed right in their yard.

(whooshing) The attack changed the lives of service men and women as well as civilians at Pearl Harbor.

I wonder if it had the same affect on Americans on the mainland?

Let me text Eliana to see if she can find out for me.

(texting) (beeping) (beeping) (texting) (beeping) (texting) (beeping) (whooshing) - We covered a lot in that last segment learning how the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor.

It was a surprise attack on December 7th, 1941 by planes that took off from Japanese aircraft carriers.

Let's check out some of your questions right now.

Are you ready Kenneth?

- [Kenneth] I'm ready.

- [Tom] First question is from students in Abilene, Kansas.

"How long did the attack last?"

- Well the attack was actually quite short by a few hours after it began, the whole thing was over.

The Japanese sent two different waves of aircraft from their aircraft carriers over Oahu, to attack.

The first wave, and then they returned.

And then a second wave came and then they returned.

And by mid morning, the whole attack was over, and the Japanese fleet was already starting to head back to Japan leaving the United States to clean up the big mess.

- Two waves that changed the history of the world.

- Absolutely.

- We have one more question for you Kenneth.

This one is from Josiah in Florida.

"Were any of the destroyed battleships restored?"

- Yes, absolutely.

Josiah that's a great question.

We didn't have that many extra ships, and so we had to not only did we start building a lot more ships to fight the war both in Europe and the Pacific, but we also raised as many ships as we could that had been damaged or sunk, refitted them, and then by a year or two later, many of the ships were actually put back into service to help win the war against Japan.

Great question.

- Thank you so much.

- Great question, great answer.

Thank you Kenneth.

In this next segment, we'll learn more from Eliana and Julia about what happened after the Japanese attacked, both in Hawaii and on the US mainland.

But first, you have another opportunity to vote on what you'd like to see.

Eliana will be examining United States propaganda posters during this next segment.

Do you want her to check out, A, the poster with the American flag, or B, the "Avenge December 7th" poster.

Text the letter A or B for your choice.

You only have about a minute to vote, so enter your decision now, and let's see where Eliana is now in the museum.

(dramatic music) (whooshing) - I'm back in New Orleans at the National World War II museum in the "Road to Tokyo" galleries.

Here we're looking at some artifacts Miss Chrissy pulled from the vault.

Now Julia told me that the attack devastated Hawaii, but did it have a larger affect on the United States?

- Eliana, that's a fantastic question and as you've probably guessed, it definitely did.

This infamous day was felt by many Americans all across this country.

They were listening to their regularly scheduled program on these radio broadcasts and this news interrupts that radio broadcast.

Or as we actually even see here, these are some artifacts indeed from our vault.

And these are all major headlines that day about Japan attacking the United States and the US now at war.

So here closest to you, we see a newspaper from Chicago.

Next to me is actually a newspaper from a small town, Hattiesburg, Mississippi.

And of course in the center here is a newspaper from New Orleans declaring that war.

So something that Americans felt all across this country that this day of infamy would live with many of them for the rest of their life.

- Now you say day of infamy a lot, and we've heard it several times, so what does infamy mean?

- Ah see that's another really great question, and we actually have used it quite a bit haven't we?

Infamy means being famous for a negative reason.

And it's a great word, because it's the same word that our President Franklin Delano Roosevelt uses in a famous speech the day after the attack on Pearl Harbor.

And in that speech, he is asking Congress to declare war on Japan.

And actually on the other side of you, we have a copy of that speech.

Now it's not the final speech.

You can see there's some edits to it from Roosevelt himself.

But can you look there and see what's the first sentence on there?

What does it say?

- It says yesterday December 7th, 1941, a date which will live in world history.

- [Chrissy] World History, and then you can see above though, he scratched out world history, and wrote infamy.

So why do you think he would change his words?

- [Eliana] Well he knew it was a speech that was important in American History, so he wanted to get his point across kind of like the Lincoln's Gettysburg Address.

- [Chrissy] Exactly, going to war was a big step for our country.

Thousands of people were killed in a surprise attack, a truly terrible act.

Calling Japan's attack infamous, set the tone for his request, and it proved to be true.

Congress almost unanimously declared war on Japan.

- [Eliana] Now at the end of 1941, America was finally dragged into the World War that China and Japan had been fighting since 1937, and much of Europe had been in since 1939.

In the days after the attack, thousands of Americans joined the fight signing up at recruiting centers across the country.

Three days later, Germany and Italy, who were allied with Japan, declared war on the United States.

For the next three and a half years, the US would be committed to fighting and winning this global conflict.

(whooshing) I see more posters.

- Exactly yeah, I actually pulled some earlier from our vault.

Earlier in the electronic field trip, our audience voted on what the meaning of propaganda was.

Do you remember that meaning?

- Propaganda is a tool used to convince or persuade people to act or believe in a certain way.

Okay you guys voted on which Pearl Harbor posters you wanted to see.

Let's see how you voted.

(whooshing) Well it looks like the students chose option B.

- Oh perfect this is another great propaganda poster.

And actually you know what, I'm gonna take the back seat here and let you be the historian.

Tell me what you see in that poster there?

- [Eliana] Well it's very dark and dramatic.

And there seems to be a sailor with his fist up like he's charging forward.

And I think that's the USS Arizona exploding in the back.

- That's actually exactly right.

And notice if you take a closer look at that sailor there, his sleeve is all tattered.

What do you think that might mean?

- Well it could mean that he might have been in the attack.

And he looks very determined.

- Yeah, very good.

I think you're exactly right.

Now there's another really good vocabulary term in that poster, it says "Avenge December 7th".

What do you think avenge means?

- Well avenge kind of sound like revenge, so it could mean that the US was getting back at Japan for the attack on Pearl Harbor.

- Exactly man, I couldn't analyze it any better myself.

Great job Eliana.

- So I hear a lot of avenge and remember.

- Yeah, you're exactly right to pick up on that.

That was a common theme after the attack on Pearl Harbor.

Posters actually like the one that we just analyzed, were spread across towns, communities, and cities, all throughout World War II.

And you know what, it wasn't just posters.

I actually have some other great artifacts here from the museum's vault that say, you probably guessed it, "Remember Pearl Harbor".

So as you can see here, we've got this really neat comic book that says, "Remember Pearl Harbor" with Uncle Sam charging at Japan.

There were also buttons, and pins, and trinkets.

And so these sweetheart pins which are actually pins given by those loved ones far away from home at the war, they would send these to their loved ones here on the home front, saying I remember you, and I miss you, and I'm thinking about you.

And so the common themes with those, is remember Pearl Harbor, never forget.

And you can see some of them are pretty elaborate, and pretty beautiful.

- Wow, if the response was this great on the mainland, I wonder what it was like back in Hawaii?

Let's see what Julia's up to.

(texting) (beeping) (beeping) (texting) (beeping) (whooshing) - Right now I'm at Theodore Roosevelt High School on Oahu with Jimmy.

Roosevelt high was here 75 years ago.

And the place changed a lot in the months after the attack.

Check this out, many seniors in the high school joined the military.

Several students who went to Roosevelt, were even killed during World War II.

They are honored with this plaque in from of the school.

Their names are read by students to this day.

So Jimmy when did you return to school after the attack, and how did school life change?

- You know I was not at this school before, but I went to a school called Aiea and that's near my home.

But right after the attack, the school was closed.

It was used for a hospital, and therefore I'm not sure exactly when I went back to school, but it was a long time.

But during that time, with martial law, I mean we just lived in fear.

And the military took control.

And we had blackouts.

We had rationing.

We had censorship.

And all the things that we used to do whether it was right, wrong, or indifferent, we had to do things the military way.

And we lived like that for three years.

Like going into the waters.

And that was a violation.

Every time I did that, I got arrested.

Martial law was really something that disciplined us.

We could not say anything.

- The military took over parts of the school's administration building, the athletic fields, and the backyard.

The school was even surrounded by barbed wire barricades.

Students supported the war effort and joined the Victory Corps.

A club that gathered scrap materials and sold war bonds to help pay for the war.

- You know Julia, the students here were so patriotic, and you know this school here, the students, they raised almost over a $160,000 buying war bonds and stamps, and working in the pineapple fields.

- So schools, especially here in Hawaii, dramatically changed after the attack.

Not only did their physical appearance alter with barbed wire and barricades, but the students helped the war effort in ways that they could.

Many even enlisted in the Army, Navy, and Marine Corps.

Some never coming back from the battlefronts.

(whooshing) - Eliana and Julia, thanks for your reporting.

You answered our third question of what happened after the attack.

The United States officially entered World War II which had changed the lives of many Americans including students.

So Kenneth, there was fear in the country that there would be continuing attacks or possibly even an invasion of the Japanese on Hawaii?

- Yeah there was a fear that the Japanese might return to attack Hawaii.

There was even fear of an attack on the mainland.

Let me ask you a question.

- Go ahead.

- Do you know where the Rose Bowl football game is played every year?

- Pasadena, California.

- But not in 1942.

- [Tom] What?

- It was not, because of a fear of a Japanese attack on the West Coast, the government banned all large scale public events, and the Rose Bowl was one of those public events.

And so in 1942, so I'll tell you what, I have a copy, of a ticket here.

- How could you have a ticket?

Wait how could you have a ticket?

The game was banned right.

- Well I'll tell you what.

This is kind of small.

Let me get my larger prop here.

Here's an enlargement of this ticket, and you will see that it says that the game is "Transferred this year to Durham, North Carolina "from Pasadena Rose Bowl in California."

So the game was moved from the West Coast, all the way to the East Coast just to avoid a possible attack by the Japanese.

And it was moved to Durham, because Duke University was in it, they were playing Oregon State.

- [Tom] Oregon State.

- Now I'm not gonna tell you who won, you'll have to look it up.

- But don't look it up right now eager beavers.

We got to take some audience questions.

Kenneth are you ready?

- I'm ready, I'm ready.

- Okay here we go.

"Did Japan attack Hawaii again during the war?

- Japan did not attack Hawaii again during the war.

Of course, Pearl Harbor was the surprise attack, but once we were in the war, we were set.

We knew, we kept a watch out all the time, and we made sure that Hawaii was not attacked again, and the Japanese never got so far toward the United States, that they were able to launch a major attack.

There were a couple of small little attacks on the West Coast, tiny things, but nothing major.

- But that fear lasted throughout the entire war?

- The fear definitely lasted throughout the entire war with some important consequences.

- [Tom] Let's take another question.

"How were Japanese American citizens treated after Pearl Harbor?"

That's from Matthew Lee.

Well Matthew, that's what I was just about to talk about.

The fear of the Japanese led to the United States putting over a 110,000 Japanese, and Japanese Americans who lived on the West Coast in California, Oregon, and Washington state, putting them into a internment camps throughout the rest of the war, because of fear that they wouldn't be loyal to the United States, and they would help Japan.

So now many decades later, it was the United States actually apologized for that move, because we violated their civil rights.

There was never any proof that they were disloyal to the United States.

And so when we study history, we study about all the great things the United States did, but we also have to look at some of the mistakes we've made in the past.

- A mistake that they owned up to.

- Exactly.

- Let's take one more question.

"How did people in the United States help out the war effort after the attack?"

And that's from Sophie in Kenner, Louisiana.

- So Sophie thanks so much.

Not too far from the museum in Kenner, Louisiana.

Well you heard Jimmy Lee talk about how the kids at the schools would go scrapping.

And today you do the same, but you recycle.

It's the same thing, but scrapping was to collect things for the war effort.

And so kids your age after school would go around their neighborhood and collect tires, old rubber things, old metal things, and they would turn them in, to be melted down and turned into things for the war efforts.

That's one way people helped.

Another way is they bought war bonds.

And that was giving the government money to pay for the war and the government would promise to pay you back after the war with a little extra.

So it was an investment in victory, and an investment for yourself.

- [Tom] There was war going on in the battlefront, but also victory was helped on the home front, here at home in the United States.

- [Kenneth] We're all in this together.

That was the phrase of the day.

- Very good, thank you Kenneth.

As we near the end of our program, we have one more poll question for you.

We've discussed the why and how the attack occurred, and what happened afterwards.

Our next question is how can we remember Pearl Harbor?

And where can we go to learn more?

A, at the National World War II Museum in New Orleans?

B, at the historical sites and museums around beautiful Oahu?

C, from listening to the stories of people who were actually there?

Or D, all of the above?

Let's see how Julia and Eliana answer our last question.

(dramatic music) (whooshing) - We have visited several locations to tell the story of Pearl Harbor.

Now there's only two more that we need to see.

We are here at National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific, known as Punchbowl.

It is one of the most beautiful spots on Oahu, situated in an ancient volcanic crater, high above Hawaii's capital Honolulu.

- We're now here near the graves of Enson Lewis Stockdale as well as Chief Vernon Luke.

Both men died on December 7, 1941 with 427 other sailors when the battleship USS Oklahoma was torpedoed and sank in the harbor.

Their remains were brought here and buried in graves marked unknown.

- But I don't understand, these graves have names on them.

How did they identify them?

- Well just recently they were able to identify them the through the DNA process.

- The Defense POW MIA accountability agency believes that 80% of the unknown remains from the USS Oklahoma can be identified within five years.

Lewis and Vernon's families chose to have them reburied at Punchbowl with their own graves.

Even 75 years after the attack, we're learning and making new history about that infamous day.

- So why do you think it's important that we remember these victims from so long ago?

- Oh it's very important that we do, because we got to remember the names of all those people that sacrificed their lives during World War II.

You know Julia there's one more place that we've got to go.

We saw it at a distance the other day, but we got to visit the USS Arizona Memorial.

(trumpet music) - [Julia] In 1962, 21 years after the attack, a memorial was built on top of the sunken USS Arizona.

The remains of approximately 900 sailors still rest inside.

More than a million people from around the world, visit the site every year.

Many of them from Japan to pay their respects to those who died in the attack, and to learn more about World War II history.

You know this a special place for reflection and contemplation as soon as you step onto the platform.

The ship is visible while standing on the memorial, and oil still leaks from the ship to this day.

The shrine marks and remembers the 1,177 servicemen lost on the ship on that day of infamy.

(dramatic music) - Here at the National World War II Museum in New Orleans, I learned that the attack on Pearl Harbor stayed in the memories of all the Americans throughout the war, and inspired many to do their part on the home front and battle front.

In World War II, the United States faced a tough adversary in Japan.

From Pearl Harbor to the end of the war in August 1945, the United States fought the Japanese in dense jungles on barren islands, on the sea, under the sea, and in the air.

All the way to Japan's doorstep.

That doesn't even include the fighting in Europe against Germany.

- The attack on Pearl Harbor united our country and spurred the United States to fully join this global struggle.

It was a total war for many nations and a conflict that would change the world.

Including the 2,400 who died during the attack on Pearl Harbor.

More than 400,000 Americans, would make the ultimate sacrifice during the course of the war.

In total an estimated 65 million people died in World War II, making it the deadliest conflict in all of human history.

(whooshing) - The outcome of the war still echoes in our world today.

- We pay tribute to those sacrifices that the Americans made and to the lives that were lost.

- And so today, 75 years later, we remember Pearl Harbor because it is an important part of our American history.

- Thank you Eliana and Julia.

Great reporting and a big Mahalo to you Mr. Jimmy Lee, an amazing man.

Now let's take a look at our last poll results.

Just about everyone got it right.

There are many places to continue learning about Pearl Harbor, and as we wrap up this show, Kenneth is gonna tell you about one more way to learn about Pearl Harbor.

Well to commemorate this day in history, the National World War II museum is kicking off a national reading of the award winning young adult historical novel "Under the Blood-Red Sun" by Graham Salisbury.

The book tells the story of 13 year old Japanese American Tomikazu, and his best friend Billy growing up on Oahu in the 1940s.

Tomi and Billy's world turns upside down as they witness the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor.

It's a powerful story that will definitely capture your attention.

Our website, www.pearl75.org/electronic-fiel, has information on how to get copies of the book.

Once your whole class has read it, contact the museum and we'll send your teacher a commemorative "Remember Pearl Harbor" classroom poster.

- A great read for all ages.

Thank you all for being part of this electronic field trip, and we wanna send a special thank you to our fellow PBS member station, PBS Hawaii, for helping us bring the historical sites of Pearl Harbor to you.

Today by remembering Pearl Harbor, we mark not only the sacrifices made on this day 75 years ago, we mark the price of freedom.

From the National World War II Museum in New Orleans I'm Tom Gregory.

Thank you for joining us.

(upbeat music) - [Announcer] The electronic field trip "Remember Pearl Harbor" helps students like you experience the Day of Infamy, is made possible by Lillian and Jimmy Maurin.

With additional funding by the Joe W. and Dorothy Dorsett Brown Foundation, and by the Dudley and Constance Godfrey Foundation, and the Dale E. and Janice Davis Johnston Family Foundation.

(stately music)