Presents forty oral histories by the soldiers, sailors, airmen, nurses, chaplains, and wives who were stationed at Pearl Harbor in 1941. They survived the “date which will live in infamy.” Now they tell the unofficial story. Many books have been written about the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, an unprecedented event that launched the United States into World War II. But here is a rare compilation of eyewitness accounts by those who actually survived the bombing on December 7, 1941. This book is their story. Not the official version from the top brass, but the riveting, clear-as-yesterday accounts of the ordinary soldiers, sailors, airmen, nurses, chaplains, and wives who were at Pearl Harbor, going about their normal lives that fateful Sunday morning. From the burning deck of the Tennessee in the inferno of Battleship Row, from the airfields, from the hospitals, and from the Navy Yard dry docks come the chilling and unforgettable stories of these brave men and women.

Attack at sea -- Battleship Row -- The Navy Yard and Ford Island -- North northwest of Ford Island -- Hickman Filed, Fort Kamehameha, and Tripler Army hospital -- Schofield Barracks and Wheeler Field -- Kaneohe Naval Air Station and Bellows Field.