takes viewers into museums and historic sites around the country. on the morning of december 7, 1941, planes from six japanese aircraft carriers attacked the island of oahu in hawaii, targeting the pacific fleet at pearl harbor. almost 400 americans were killed, and 1200 wounded. 20 airships and vessels, and almost 350 aircraft were destroyed or damaged. the surprise attack led to u.s. entry in world war ii. next, american history tv to us some of the attack sites and memorials at pearl harbor, part of the national park service world war ii valor in the pacific national monument, including several stops within the bounds of the pearl harbor naval station, and off-limits to the general public. >> aloha, and welcome to pearl harbor. my name is dana martinez, and i serve as the chief historian. we are here today to take you on a guided to her tour of this historic resource of the attack on pearl harbor, and the attack on oahu to place. we're standing at ground zero. this is where it all began at pearl harbor. but not the attack. the attack had actually unfolded most 10 minutes earlier at the airfields at wheeler. that is the naval air station, and the marine base. but at 7:55, the time that everybody remembers, the attack happened here. below me is a bomb crater. this bomb crater is a 500 pound bomb that is in circular patterns with shrapnel scraps running out on either side. it is the most tangible bomb crater we have here at pearl harbor. this is where the dive bombers came in, and dropping these 500 pound bombs on what is known as the pby ramp. what is over the shoulders is hangar number six. it was destroyed during the attack. following up would be the zero fighters, strafing this with 20 millimeter cannon. these nine aircraft wreaked havoc on an apron of aircraft of seaplanes and assorted utility aircraft that were now being consumed by the devastation of the attack. when the bomb hit, it blew shrapnel through the air and along a path here on the concrete. you can see the holes dug into this concrete. initially, this was patched. concrete does not like to be repaired. we can see shrapnel running in every direction. not only that, but the strafing that took place is easily visible. we will look at that in just a moment. to give you an idea of the kind of damage one of these zero fighters could inflict, we are standing on the concrete apron next to hangar number six. we're right in the center of the ramp. when the japanese fighters came down, they could fire two types of weapons. 7.7 machine guns located on the wings, or the cannon located right on the howling of the aircraft. these strike patterns go right into the hangar. here today, nearly 75 years after the event, they are as fresh and the pavement as one they struck. i am often asked what the pby ramp was. we are standing on it. this concrete slopes toward the water. a pby was a long-range patrol plane. the way it happened was they be coming here towing to the water. once in the water, the sailors would get in that water and detach the gear from it. it was the wheel gear that got on that ramp. then they would float the plane out, it would take off, and that the tractor comes here with the sailors and comes into the water. the sailors attached that beaching gear. up thector then towes it ramp. fromt he pby ramp, from here we are going to head over to the uss utah and its memorial. there are only two ships here left from the attack, the uss arizona and the uss utah. the utah is special as well because 52 souls are still resting inside. behind me is the uss utah. she was the first ship torpedoed in pearl harbor she was struck by two torpedoes. when they hit, it did catastrophic damage to the ship. within 12 minutes, she had capsized. taking 58 members of the crew. those that survived were swimming out of these waters. the ship today is in the salvage mode this is as far as they got on the salvage. at the time of the attack she was completely capsized. you can only see the bottom of the hole. from that hall they removed later that afternoon the only crew member rescued from the ship. the utah lost 58 men. 52 are still inside the ship. this memorial is in that remembrance. the memorial was an aspiration for a senator moss from utah, and also for the surviving crew. in 1971, he came here to dedicate the ground in which this memorial will be built. he said these words which in my terms still haunt me to this day. "while we honor those who here gave the last full measure of devotion, all of us hope and pray that the time will come when we know the -- when we no longer need to dedicate memorials to men who died in battle. that we will dedicate memorials to those who live in peace. to all nations and all men." frank moss the united states senator, utah, groundbreaking december 7, 1971. his dream came true. memorial was dedicated on memorial day, 1972. this memorial is that. i guess it is that silent testimony to the forgotten ship and forgot memorial. the public doesn't come here, because they are not allowed yet to come here. this is on a military reservation. the park service that in the near future, we will have transportation out here so they can this this memorial at the next memorial we are going to, the uss oklahoma memorial. like the crew of the uss utah, the crew of the uss oklahoma sought a memorial to remember their 429 sailors, marines, and officers that were lost aboard the ship. she represents the second greatest loss of life at pearl harbor. 32 men were rescued from the ship the following day. the idea of the uss oklahoma ever fighting again was lost when she capsized. she was raised and placed and then sold for scrap after the war. she sunk in a storm. the uss oklahoma and its memorial is one of those places where you can stand among pillars of marble and see names of those that lost their lives on december 7, 1941. we are going to move to our next stop, and that is the chief petty officer bungalows that were part of the naval air station at pearl harbor. we are here in the general area of the chief petty officer bungalows that were here on december 7, 1981. this was family housing. it was important not only to the men who served here, but for families that worked here and went to school here. this was a complex that was unique to ford island and this naval air station. it was important on december 7. these homes are in the proximity. right behind them is battleship row. when the torpedo planes came over and torpedoed the ships, they flew right over these houses. one can only imagine what their sunday morning was like. we took a young girl's oral history. she remembers vividly what it was like and the terror her family endured that sunday morning. these cpo structures are ones that have been reconstructed. on the other side is one of the original ones. is the hope of the national park service to continue to care take for these structures and return them to a 1941 neighborhood. our next stop after this will be battleship row, the main battle line of the pacific fleet. behind me is the famous battleship row. the white concrete blocks represent mooring places that secured each ship. it took two for each battleship. they started at the end with the uss nevada. just ahead of the nevada was the uss arizona and the repair ship. moving up here, uss tennessee and west virginia. adjacent to where the uss missouri is would be the maryland and the oklahoma. a little bit further down, uss california. seven battleships that made up battleship row. also here at battleship row is the uss missouri. the missouri was actually commissioned in 1944 and saw action in the pacific. she is often a member for one event -- that at the surrender of japan at tokyo bay. this museum ship was brought here in 1998, and is one of the key visits for people that come to pearl harbor. she now rests in the place where the uss oklahoma was sunk at pearl harbor. history is remembered and history is revisited. we have just come from ford island. behind me is battleship row. in the distance, you can see the uss missouri and an element of the uss arizona memorial. we are here at hospital point, one of the most historic site at pearl harbor. it is here where one of the most historic events during the pearl harbor attack -- often neglected by most documentaries -- the gallant sortie of the uss nevada. behind me is the memorial. i would like to share with you that this place is where very famous chinese-american photographer took pictures in the 1930's and 40's. they did the portraits of the ships as we they into port. we knew the uss arizona had the picture taken late 1940, just a year before she was lost here at pearl harbor. the drama of pearl harbor unfolded here in the latter stages of the attack. we are at the uss nevada memorial. it was placed in 1983. the uss nevada had witnessed the beginning of the attack on battleship row, just about 7:55. the harbor was fully being struck by the japanese navy. part of that assault was a torpedo that was dropped and struck the nevada. she would actually suffer during the attack six bomb hits and a torpedo hit. at a quarter to 9:00, the uss nevada had made a decision with the crew that was frightened and yet wanted to get out of the harbor. it was decided by the crew and its officers that it would try to get underway. it was extremely fortunate that two of her boilers were already lit. usually it would take 2.5 hours to get a ship that size underway. led by a lieutenant francis thomas, he directs the chief quartermaster to wheel her out and pull away. at that same moment, chief hill goes over to the moorings and drops the line. theyd down battleship row, now look at the uss nevada as her bows arts to swing out. they can hear the cheers coming up from the ship as the ship is underway like a football game. but the cheering in the movement is now going to be stymied by the japanese second wave attack that is now coming over diamondhead. seeing that battleship underway is now a prime target for that attack. as if it is a hive, the bees of japan now descend upon the uss nevada. just as she approaches the shipyard area, she now suffers a number of attacks from dive bombers that are sending bombs into the ship from the bow to the the midship. she will now be ordered to go ground near hospital point. there she will nose her bow in. tradewinds will move her along with the current, and she'll be side-by-side along hospital point. the movement of the nevada is over. just before that last act, the nevada is right next to the uss shaw that is in flowing drydock. one of the most dramatic pictures taken is the explosion of the shaw with the bow of the nevada in it. it is as if the drama of the explosion extinguishes the horror of what has happened on seventh of december, 1941. in 1983, it was decided that a memorial would be placed here. the crew of the nevada wanted that to happen, and working with a local construction company and the navy league, this memorial was placed here. this plaque denotes the history of the attack on the nevada during the pearl harbor assault, and listed over here are those killed in action, and the two medal of honor recipients which were a chief boatswain's mate, the one who removed the ropes from the moorings. and then he was working to put up hours -- put out fires and a bomb came and he literally disappeared. the other is a machinist's mate who went down to the engine room, even though he passed out several times. he kept reviving and making sure that the engines were under power and the ship could move forward. my only contribution to the story when it was placed here 1983 is that there were a number of ships that went by here. at that time, you could actually have tourist ships that came by. those in the navy did not know what it was. they have the ships title embossed in black and the name so that everybody would notice what it is, and they did that. this monument and memorial with this flag behind me and pearl harbor here as well is one of the destination points for those that seek out the history of this pearl harbor attack and what happened on december 7, 1941. leaving here from the uss nevada memorial, we're going back over to ford island. we are going to the uss arizona memorial overlook, one of those secret places that very few visitors get to see. we're just above battleship row. this is the first memorial built to honor those that died on december 7. it was brought here in december 7, 1955 by the navy club of the united states of america. you can see an inscription above it has a reverent recognition of the eternal memory of those who gave their last full measure of devotion to their country. this money is dedicated humbly to the sacrifice in defending our freedom. if you look at the artistic impression there, you will see the ship of state held by columbia in the background. the many faces of those that died that day. this rock is very special. you would not find it here on ford island. it was brought here. this hawaiian rock is a very special rock. whoever picked it, make sure that it had all of the relevance to the hawaiian culture. here we find this rock, unlike any on the island, brought here to remember the first december 7 monument. we're going to move ourselves over to the uss arizona memorial that was dedicated in 1952 and tell that story, and take a a personal walking tour to one of the first and most revered world war ii memorials in the united states. we have just come from the uss arizona overlook and battleship row. we are on the uss arizona memorial. this memorial was a dream for many years, to build something substantial and the memory of those that fell here. 1177 officers, sailors and marines were lost in that fatal moment. perhaps as many as 900 still serve the ship. the uss arizona memorial started to come into an idea, and also a design in the late 1950's. the initial planner for this was admiral radford. he had started with a platform being placed on the arizona in 1950. he and hope there be something more formal later, and the pacific war commission went forward with the design and with funding to build the uss arizona memorial in the late 1950's. the designer of this memorial was an interesting fellow, alfred price. he was a refugee from austria, and had come here before the war to flee the nazis that had now occupied his country. when the war breaks out, he is an enemy alien, because he is of german austrian ancestry. he is arrested and held for nearly six months. they find out he is not an enemy of the state, but rather a willing immigrant, ready to help the navy with design of buildings during world war ii. after the war is over, he will create his own firm, and he will be one of the architects asked to submit a design for the new uss arizona memorial. his design was the winning submission. it called for a memorial to span the wreck of the arizona, but not touch it. the design was simple, and yet extremely effective. it was designed as a suspension bridge. 36 piers on either side of this ship suspend the memorial about it. the design is basically one that soars at dips and reflects what had happened at pearl harbor. initially the only purposeful design in a memorial where these openings here on either side. we found that in our research and years later that this design represents peace and harmony. not only is the memorial a war grave at a final resting place for those that parish that day -- perished that day, but it is also a peace memorial. behind me are the names of the crew of the uss arizona and not only the officers and sailors, but the marine detachment as well. they represent that great loss of life. there was really nothing like this in america. even today, those that survive, many of them had asked that their ashes be brought back to the ship and placed in the whole -- the hull of it. it does remind me of the purpose of the memorial. over here marine named dw fincher. recently i looked at his record and found that his father had wondered and asked if there would ever be a memorial built to honor those that fell here. in particular, that his son would be remembered. it was written in 1943. the uss arizona memorial is visited by nearly 1.6 million visitors per year. nearly 2 million come to the visitors center. it is the most visited site on the island of oahu and the hawaiian islands. here the memory is kept alive. for americans that remmber that day, and our foreign guests that come to understand pearl harbor. we do not at this point look back at the war with anger, but rather we look back at the war for those that served and gave their lives, and for those that survived. we now celebrate nearly 70 years of peace between the united states and japan. this memorial for the japanese is a remembrance of the war that they were once involved in, and for the friendship that they now have between countries that were formally their enemies. alford price achieved that goal. it represents peace and harmony. behind me is the gun turret. it is the most visible portion of the ship. depending on the tide, part of the ship will be exposed. this particular piece of the wreckage is the largest. this plaque before me is the first plaque ever placed on the uss arizona. when they built the memorial, they made sure that the plaque came here. it's a dedicated to the internal memory of our gallant shipmates who gave their life and action december 7, 1941. this exhibit shows the uss arizona as she was on the morning of december 7. it gives you the entire length and her height. this shows you what the ship looked like from above. her main gun turrets. over here you can see the barbet. this is the ship today. the red portions you see here are what is above water. you can see how the memorial stresses across the mid-ships of the arizona. you can see the deterioration of the ship from the explosion, and you see this turret almost intact, but not quite, because because she has dropped the 23 feet from her mounting three decks. it blew out this way. all of the smoothness is not as smooth as you think it might be. it is sand that has filled in the crevasses from this explosion. when the bombs struck, it landed right here. it lifted the ship nearly 50 feet out of the water, fracturing her completely around in this manner. she then settled down and sank within nine minutes. she now rests in 40 feet of water and 23 feet of mud. this ship was so badly damaged that she never served her country again. in many ways, she still does serve her country with the symbolism she evokes with the ship itself here and it's memorial. this portion of the uss arizona memorial is commonly referred to as the dedication well. it is at this very spot that america's first president to visit stood john f. kennedy came here in 1963 in the summer to be the first to come aboard the memorial. he stood here next to a senator, and it is common practice at that time to drop leis or flowers or reefs in the water for the dead of pearl harbor and the crew of the uss arizona. this tradition continues to this day. it is also a place for people stop and contemplate as they look down on the remains of the ship, looking down at the quarter deck and watch the oil flow by. it is interesting also to point out that this is not only a tomb, but a shipwreck, and a reef. three kind of strata are formed here. new life comes from the reef. the tomb for those that have passed, and a shipwreck that is still studied today to learn about how the arizona was lost and retain the artifacts that are still on the ship. one of the questions that is often asked the park rangers out here is what is that floating on the water? it is oil from the ship. it has been leaking since december 7. we are often asked how i will continue. we do not know. a ship of this size took on almost a million gallons of fuel. half of that burned in the but in the aft section of the ship, it remained intact. environmentally, it dissipates quite rapidly across the water. one of the local photographers did a study of just all the different shapes and colors from the oil patterns. for those of us, we keep a sharp eye, along with the people that we are partnered with, to make sure that if there is any expansion of the oil that we can corral it and keep the environment clean. it is a message to many that visit here, to the uss arizona survivors. the was a message to remember pearl harbor and to keep up -- to keep america alert. some a message that those that are killed still weep. to a japanese pilot, when asked what might mean to him, he said perhaps it is a warning to all who come here to never repeat the mistakes of world war ii. i suspect visitors take their own message. here, the oil still leaks, and the ship in many ways still lives. [captioning performed by the national captioning institute, which is responsible for its caption content and accuracy. visit ncicap.org] [captions copyright national cable satellite corp. 2016] >> you can watch this and other programs by visiting our webside, www.c-span.org. a.m. wening at 11:00 are live to take your calls for the author of "pacific crucible." that is live, next saturday. ♪ [applause] >> senators and representatives, i have the distinguished honor of presenting the president of the united states. president roosevelt: vice president, speaker, members of yesterday, december 7, 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. the united states was at peace with that nation and, at the solicitation of japan, was still in conversation with its government and its emperor looking toward the maintenance of peace in the pacific. indeed, one hour after japanese air squadrons had commenced bombing in the american island of oahu, the japanese ambassador to the united states and his colleague delivered to our secretary of state a formal reply to a recent american message. and while this reply stated that it seemed useless to continue the existing diplomatic negotiations, it contained no threat or hint of war or of armed attack. it will be recorded that the distance of hawaii from japan makes it obvious that the attack was deliberately planned many days or even weeks ago. during the intervening time the japanese government has deliberately sought to deceive the united states by false statements and expressions of hope for continued peace. the attack yesterday on the hawaiian islands has caused severe damage to american naval and military forces. i regret to tell you that very many american lives have been lost. in addition american ships have been reported torpedoed on the high seas between san francisco and honolulu. yesterday the japanese government also launched an attack against malaya. last night japanese forces attacked hong kong. last night japanese forces attacked guam. last night japanese forces attacked the philippine islands. last night the japanese attacked wake island. and this morning the japanese attacked midway island. japan has, therefore, undertaken a surprise offensive extending throughout the pacific area. the facts of yesterday and today speak for themselves. the people of the united states have already formed their opinions and well understand the implications to the very life and safety of our nation. as commander in chief of the army and navy i have directed that all measures be taken for our defense. but always will our whole nation remember the character of the onslaught against us. [applause] president roosevelt: 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. [applause] president roosevelt: i believe that i interpret the will of the congress and of the people when i assert that we will not only defend ourselves to the uttermost, but will make it very certain that this form of treachery shall never again endanger us. [applause] president roosevelt: hostilities exist. there is no blinking at the fact that our people, our territory, and our interests are in grave danger. with confidence in our armed forces, with the unbounding determination of our people, we will gain the inevitable triumph, so help us god. [applause] president roosevelt: i ask that the congress declare that since the unprovoked and dastardly attack by japan on sunday, december 7, 1941, a state of war has existed between the united states and the japanese empire. [applause] >> congress voted the declaration of a state of war and the president signed three hours after this historic scene. [applause] >> saturday, december 10 at 11:00 a.m. we will be live to for your calls and tweets the author of pacific crucible, war at sea in the pacific. is live next saturday here on american history tv. >> on the morning of december 7, 1940 one, warplanes from six japanese aircraft carriers attack the island of oahu in hawaii targeting the u.s. pacific fleet at pearl harbor. almost 2400 americans were killed and 1200 wounded. he surprise attack led to the u.s. entry into world war ii. next comes the u.s. navy and national park service mark the 75th anniversary of the attack with a ceremony at pearl harbor. admiral harry harris head of the u.s. pacific command delivers the keynote address. this is just under 90 minutes. >> our national anthem. ♪ [star spangled banner playing ♪ ]

Related Keywords

Hospital Point , Hawaii , United States , Japan , Nevada , Missouri , Ford Island , China , Honolulu , California , Austria , Guam , San Francisco , West Virginia , Arizona , Pearl Harbor , Oklahoma , Tennessee , Hawaiian Islands , Hong Kong , Maryland , Utah , Americans , America , Hawaiian , Chinese , Austrian , Japanese , American , George Nash , Harry Harris , Herbert Hoover , Dana Martinez , John F Kennedy , Francis Thomas , Frank Moss ,