The Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor

Witness History

BBC

History, Personal Journals, Society & Culture

4.4 • 1.6K Ratings

🗓️ 3 August 2020

⏱️ 10 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

On 7 December 1941, Japan launched a surprise strike on the American naval base, Pearl Harbor, in Hawaii. Thousands of American servicemen were killed or injured in the attack, which severely damaged the US Pacific Fleet. The next day, President Franklin Roosevelt declared war on Japan and America entered World War II. Adolph Kuhn was a US Navy mechanic stationed at Pearl Harbor when the bombs began to fall.

Photo: The USS Arizona sinking at Pearl Harbor. (Credit: Getty Images)

Transcript

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0:00.0	Just before this BBC podcast gets underway, here's something you may not know.
0:04.7	My name's Linda Davies and I Commission Podcasts for BBC Sounds.
0:08.5	As you'd expect, at the BBC we make podcasts of the very highest quality featuring the most knowledgeable experts and genuinely engaging voices.
0:18.0	What you may not know is that the BBC makes podcasts about all kinds of things like pop stars,
0:24.6	poltergeist, cricket, and conspiracy theories and that's just a few examples.
0:29.7	If you'd like to discover something a little bit unexpected, find your next podcast over at BBC Sounds.
0:40.0	Hello and welcome to Witness History from the BBC World Service.
0:45.0	This week we're looking back at key moments in the Second World War in the Pacific
0:50.0	which ended 75 years ago.
0:53.0	And we start in December 1941 when Japan first drew the United States into the war
1:00.0	with the surprise air raid on the US naval base at Pearl Harbor.
1:04.6	In 2015 Simon Watts spoke to Adolf Kuhn
1:08.6	a survivor of the attack. Yesterday, December 7th, 1941, a date which will live in infamy, the United States of America was suddenly and deliberately attacked by naval
1:37.9	and air forces of the Empire of Japan.
1:50.0	Everywhere I looked there was ships there was explosions going on and there was ships were sinking. I could see that some of them leave to the starboard side and some leave to the port side.
1:56.1	It was a nightmare, mechanic for the US Navy when the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor.
2:10.0	The son of wheat farmers from the Midwest, he'd volunteered enthusiastically a year earlier. I joined the Navy at 18 years old. Pretty soon the word came up on the bulletin board.
2:30.0	We need people for Sitka, Alaska, Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, and Pearl Harbor, and my hand
2:38.0	went up for the Pearl Harbor one. base was just everywhere you look with sailors. I enjoyed all my duties, you know what I mean?
2:52.0	Took the bus and went into Honolulu or Waik. enjoyed all my duties, you know what I mean?
2:52.5	Took the bus and went into Honolulu or Waikakee Beach.
2:56.1	Went to the dances.
	...

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