Pearl Harbor News Recordings

When the world woke up on that Sunday morning, December 7, 1941, we were not aware that the entire world was about to change, but that is exactly what was happening in the middle of the Pacific Ocean. The fact that events between great nations could change the world was nothing new. What was new was the fact that by the end of the day, certainly by the next, most Americans were coming to grips with the fact. The reason that the news spread so fast was because of the miracle of radio.

Those who were paying attention to America's place in the international community were mostly looking east across the Atlantic. The Axis powers, specifically Nazi Germany and Fascist Italy had most of the world on a war footing, but for the moment, America was not involved. American listeners followed events in Europe, reports of battles came across the radio nearly as soon as they happened. There was also fighting going on across the Pacific. China had been invaded by the Empire of Japan, and Japan was committing other acts of aggression in the region, but that should not affect America. Truly savvy observers may have noted that Japan was becoming a major naval power and had been involved in battleship limitation talks with the great powers, so they would have known of the superiority of the Pacific Fleet which was in someplace called Pearl Harbor.

Listening to these broadcasts 75+ years ago, we are listening from a historical perspective. We have all seen photos and newsreel films of the smoke rising above Battleship Row, and we have seen countless recreations of Japanese planes filling the skies over Oahu. The short-wave reports broadcast on that infamous day may not have made as much sense to listeners in December 1941 as they do to us today, but we can appreciate the immediacy. The voices we hear in these recordings are often those of first-hand witnesses to the attack.

Radio listeners on that Sunday, 75 years ago, may have known that their world was changing before their ears, but they could not have appreciated the degree of change. There was still some feeling that America should stay out of foreign wars, although that feeling had been fading since France fell to the Germans in the summer of 1940. Isolationist sentiment evaporated after December 7, 1941.

America had already reacted to Japanese aggression in China. Japan's military had been dependent upon American oil imports which had been cut off in July 1941, forcing the Empire to look to its neighbors for resources. Japan had the military might to take the resources it needed, but American intervention would have proved troublesome. Secretary of State Cordell Hull and Japanese Ambassador Kichisaburō Nomura were in peace negotiations while preparations for the attack were taking place. Japan sent a "14 Part Message" to the American Government via their ambassador, the last part of which was to be a declaration of War between Japan and the United States. However, transcribing the Message took too long, and the Admiral was unable to deliver the message until after the Attack on Pearl Harbor had taken place.

After America declared War on Japan, the Axis Powers in Europe also declared war on America in support of their supposed ally Japan. The American military and industrial might began ramping up immediately, but the initial emphasis was in winning the War in Europe. The Pacific was not forgotten so much as put on a back burner. This, combined with the surprise of the Japanese attack led to stunning success for Japan in the early stages of the War. However, once America had begun to shift its priorities toward the Pacific, the outcome was inevitable, if bloody and costly.

It is a much different world than it was on that December morning seventy-five plus years ago. Hopefully, the advances in technology and communication will help protect us from another tragedy of that scope, but it is important to hear the voices from the past to help steel our resolve.

See also Complete Broadcast Day Pearl Harbor and Remember Pearl Harbor and Victory over Japan recordings.