A Day of Infamy

http://www.archives.gov/education/lessons/day-of-infamy/ ^

[Ray76]

Early in the afternoon of December 7, 1941, President Franklin D. Roosevelt and his chief foreign policy aide, Harry Hopkins, were interrupted by a telephone call from Secretary of War Henry Stimson and told that the Japanese had attacked Pearl Harbor. At about 5:00 p.m., following meetings with his military advisers, the President calmly and decisively dictated to his secretary, Grace Tully, a request to Congress for a declaration of war. He had composed the speech in his head after deciding on a brief, uncomplicated appeal to the people of the United States rather than a thorough recitation of Japanese perfidies, as Secretary of State Cordell Hull had urged.

President Roosevelt then revised the typed draft—marking it up, updating military information, and selecting alternative wordings that strengthened the tone of the speech. He made the most significant change in the critical first line, which originally read, "a date which will live in world history." Grace Tully then prepared the final reading copy, which Roosevelt subsequently altered in three more places.

On December 8, at 12:30 p.m., Roosevelt addressed a joint session of Congress and the Nation via radio. The Senate responded with a unanimous vote in support of war; only Montana pacifist Jeanette Rankin dissented in the House. At 4:00 p.m. that same afternoon, President Roosevelt signed the declaration of war.

[Ray76]

Roosevelt's address to Congress, December 8, 1941

 

Audio: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/fd/Roosevelt_Pearl_Harbor.ogg

Image source: http://www.archives.gov/exhibits/american_originals/fdr.html

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[Fai Mao]

My late mother-in-law was forced, as a 13 year-old Chinese girl to wait table in the nude for Japanese officers from 1938 until 1943 when she was able to run away from the barracks.

[Netz]

The Japanese have yet to come to terms with their crimes in WWII. I visited the Hiroshima memorial. They have every reason to grieve BUT...they live in denial of what they did to millions that resulted in the A-Attacks.

[Jack Hydrazine]

Pearl Harbor: Hawaii Was Surprised; FDR Was Not
http://www.thenewamerican.com/culture/history/item/4740-pearl-harbor-hawaii-was-surprised-fdr-was-not