you re watching live in depth on booktv. december 7, 194,a day of infamiliary. even as japanese diplomats were con ferring on peace measures, japanese plains were swooping down on pearl harbor. they dropped their death on the air base, civil homes and schools. a hundred japanese planes and midget sub marines took part. the arizona was completely destroyed and four others severely damaged. three other battleships and three cruisers suffered damage. nearly 200 planes were destroyed and that sunday morning the pacific fleet appeared to be completely immobilized by this sneak attack. nearly 3,000 casualties added to the catastrophe. it s been 75 years since over 2400 american sailors and soldiers were killed in the japanese attack on pearl harbor, december 7, 1941. starting now on booktv, on c-span2, a three-hour discussion of that day, what led up to it and its aftermath. we have three authors joining us, eri hotta, steve twomey, and craig nelson, each of you in your boo
translator: i saw a large object from 2,500 meters, and so i attacked it. since there were no carrier, we were reattacking the battleships that the first wave had already hit. host: eri hotta, you were shaking, nodding your head listening to him. was it interpreted correctly? guest: i couldn t hear the japanese clearly host: oh, you couldn t. guest: what he seemed to have said made sense, that he was doing the best, he was doing the best that he could do in the job that he was given, and there was no sort of it s almost like being a good student and demonstrating your skills and diligence. and i think that was probably how they survived this war, because so many things didn t make sense, and so many things seemed meaningless to lose your life for. so i think you just needed to concentrate on the job in front of you. host: craig nelson, was there
including the second sino japanese war that started in 1937 and the u.s. embargo of oil shipments to japan. this hour-long event took place at national defense university in washington and was organized by the friends of the national world war ii memorial. i am with the world war ii memorial. with our board. thank you very much for hosting us today. we are favored with an extraordinarily interesting and wonderful lecturer. dr. craig symonds, an old friend of mine, who has devoted his life to college teaching and writing. to be more specific, a professor in the u.s. naval academy for 30 years, during which time he , is currentlyooks finishing a book about the history of the united states navy in world war ii. the whole thing. and has also written wonderful books, including a biography of general joe johnston. what brought you to dry land for that, sir. ateral johnston was present the funeral of his great antagonist general sherman. and my right in saying he caught cold and d
i am with the world war ii memorial, and i want to thank you for joining us today. we are favored with an extraordinarily interesting, and i think you will agree, wonderful lecturer. craig simons is a friend of mine , and he has devoted his life to college teaching and writing. to be more specific, a professor at the u.s. naval academy or 30 years. during which time, it is a book he has published about 38 books. he is currently finishing a book about the history of the united states navy in world war ii. the whole thing. he has also written some wonderful books including a biography on joe johnston. what brought you onto dry land for that one, sir? [laughter] he was present at the funeral of general sherman. in any case, these kinds of facts attract all kind of historians and antiquarians. we are blessed to have dr. simons with us and, speaking figuratively, the proudest ribbon on his breast would be his service during the turner revolution. if there are people between the
infamiliary. even as japanese diplomats were con ferring on peace measures, japanese plains were swooping down on pearl harbor. they dropped their death on the air base, civil homes and schools. a hundred japanese planes and midget sub marines took part. the arizona was completely destroyed and four others severely damaged. three other battleships and three cruisers suffered damage. nearly 200 planes were destroyed and that sunday morning the pacific fleet appeared to be completely immobilized by this sneak attack. nearly 3,000 casualties added to the catastrophe. it s been 75 years since over 2400 american sailors and soldiers were killed in the japanese attack on pearl harbor, december 7, 1941. starting now on booktv, on c-span2, a three-hour discussion of that day, what led up to it and its aftermath. we have three authors joining us, eri hotta, steve twomey, and craig nelson, each of you in your book about pearl harbor and that era ask the question why did attack the