Pearl Harbor remembered 75 years later
Dec. 7, 2016, marks the 75th anniversary of the Japanese bombing of Pearl Harbor, which brought the United States into World War II. Like other transformative events, Pearl Harbor registered as “history” from the very moment it happened; Pearl Harbor Day loomed large for many years, especially for those journalists who served in the war or covered it.
“Next morning at breakfast we were nearing Honolulu and we heard a rumbling in the direction of Diamond Head. I guessed that in view of the Japanese war actions the U.S. military was blasting for new fortifications. I popped out on deck — and there, in the stabbing sunshine, was all the contrast of the times. In the bluest of blue skies we saw planes moving about, but, and this was the first disturbing note, we saw anti-aircraft guns on the beach in rapid actions. We could see guns belching with fire as shells were pushed into them by sailors in white.”
--Tom Yarbrough, AP War Correspondent
Below is a selection of photographs from the AP archive shot during the Pearl Harbor attack and the days after.
Text written by Valerie S. Komor, Director, AP Corporate Archives
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Book from The Associated Press: Pearl Harbor: An AP Special Anniversary Edition
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