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The quote was part of a speech which was spoken the day after the attack on Pearl Harbor. The attack was located on the island of AAU, Hawaii. The plan for the Japanese was to start the war with a surprise attack on the United States Pacific Fleet.
At about 8:00 AM, Japanese planes began their attack on Pearl Harbor. Less than two hours later, Japan had ruined the United States Pacific Fleets battleship force. The attack on pearl Harbor not only affected American History but influenced the creation of different types of American literature including: eyewitness accounts, books, and poems. History has been affected by the attack on Pearl Harbor and has been shown through many Eyewitness accounts. Dale Spaceman, an eyewitness of the attack, said in a speech, “by attacking Pearl Harbor the Japanese fired the spirits of the American people to relentless reprisal” (Spaceman 6).
What he meant by this was that the attack brought Americans together in the decision to join in World War II. He also said, “The ultimate goal to all of this was to gain access to oil, tin, rubber and other resources of the area. ” Although, this may have been their goal, the attack got rid of most resources, which affected the cost of them to rise in places that received those resources in America. Unfortunately, the attack had brought America into some challenging situations according to these eyewitnesses. Eyewitness accounts have also shown how literature has been affected by the attack on Pearl Harbor.
Spaceman also states, “In present time, our stories are being sought by the news, schools, and even the media” (3). This shows that eyewitness accounts are seen in many different ways and are being written down similar to how he has written his speech. In a newspaper, written the day after the attack, an eyewitness explains his experiences of what had happened the day before and his personal experiences on the horrid day. In this article he states, “Officers were eating breakfast aboard the US Arizona when a short signal on the ship’s air raid alarm sounded. “As I was running forward on the starboard side of the quarterdeck…. As apparently knocked out by the blast of a bomb,” said Let. CACM. S. G. Faux, the senor surviving officer. The bomb was one of eight that hit the 26-year-old battleship. Seventy wounded men were taken from the ruptured decks and sent to hospitals before Faux ordered all hands to abandon ship at 9 a. M. ” (“Brutal Bombing” 1). He was one of the many men aboard the ISIS Arizona when the Attack begun. The unknown author used his firsthand knowledge to help people to understand what had happened during the attack. Both of these eyewitnesses had a specific reason for why they were influenced into making these pieces of iterate.
Books have also displayed how history has been affected by the attack on Pearl Harbor. The book “From Here to Eternity” is based off of the events of the Pearl Harbor attack. Peter Initial wrote a review article on the book. In his article, he states, “This of course had increased its demand for natural resources (steel, oil, gas, raw materials and minerals). ” What he meant by this was that in result to the damage caused by the attack, there was a high demand for certain resources. This was depicted through parts of the story, that people were being affected by the attack and it describes the aspects of history that were affected as well.
The attack on Pearl Harbor has influenced the making of books. Kirk Ford Jar. Wrote an article about a person who wrote a book about Pearl Harbor. In this article he states, “In the little more than four decades since the Japanese surprise attack on Pearl Harbor, historians, journalists, and participants have produced a tremendous volume of literature on the subject… Gordon W. Prangs researched the Pacific war and the events leading to its outbreak on December 7, 1941 …. Nevertheless, his massive work on Pearl Harbor, At Dawn We Slept: The Untold Story of
Pearl Harbor, was completed and published in 1981 by two of his former students and have completed the prodigious sequel to At Dawn We Slept, entitled pearl Harbor: The Verdict of History” (“Pearl Harbor’). This shows that many people have written about Pearl Harbor and that they have researched and written about it to express their findings. Also, another article was written about the book “From Here to Eternity”. In the article he states, ‘The Pearl Harbor surprise attack has been depicted in many different films over the last 60 years – >Michael Bay directed Pearl Harbor in 2001, Fred Zimmermann
From Here to Eternity was released in 1953, and the popular Tort! Tort! Tort! Was made in 1970. And while these films display how destructive and devastating the attack was, they arena ‘ t able to include as much of the historical context because they only have 1-3 hours in which to tell the story. ‘ What he was explaining about the book was that “From Here to Eternity” was made into a movie, although was originally a book, and the purpose of writing this book and making it into a movie was to show the destruction and devastation of the Attack. These books show the reason for why Pearl Harbor ad influenced literature and the making of books.
Poems have also expressed how history has been affected by the attack on Pearl Harbor. An article, written by Elaine Klein, explains how a poem, “Pearl Harbor”, talks about the attack affecting history. She explains this by saying that make up this poem by belittling the attack, calling it no more than “fireworks”…. It signaled the entrance of Japan on the side of Germany and Italy in World War II. ” What she is trying to say about this poem, is the attack was just a way of getting the United States to enter World War II, and giving the United States a little push.
This poem therefore expresses the affect that the attack had on history. Poems have also shown how literature has been influenced by the attack on Pearl Harbor. In the same article written by Elaine Klein, she states, ” “Robinson Jeffery poem “Pearl Harbor” expresses the poet’s perspective on America’s response to the December 7, 1941 , Japanese attack on U. S. Fleet in AAU, Hawaii. ” This shows that Robinson wrote this poem because he wanted people to understand how he saw America respond to the attack. So this goes to show that literature has been influenced by the attack and has been shown through poems.
In Dale Spaceman’s article he also states, “Pearl Harbor must not be forgotten “(16). Eyewitness accounts, books, and poems are three types of literature that were influenced by the attack on Pearl Harbor and have shown its affects on our history. These articles will therefore help us to remember this devastating day and keep us informed about how to make sure this does not happen again. So this imposes the question, could this happen again and if so how can we prevent it? And we must have these pieces of literature to help us in the effort to not let it happen again. Will literature keep history alive?