“Yesterday, December 7th, 1941—a date which will live in infamy—the United States of America was suddenly and deliberately attacked by naval and air forces of the Empire of Japan.”

“Yesterday, December 7th, 1941—a date which will live in infamy—the United States of America was suddenly and deliberately attacked by naval and air forces of the Empire of Japan.” President Franklin Delano Roosevelt spoke those words in an address to the nation 80 years ago on December 8th, 1941. The day following the second largest attack on U.S. soil, when the Empire of Japan launched a surprise air assault on Pearl Harbor, Hawaii. The Attack killed 2,403 Americans, including 68 civilians. In addition, 19 naval vessels were destroyed, and the U.S. Pacific Fleet was crippled as the country entered the Second World War. Unfortunately, as time has gone by, many first-hand accounts of the day have been lost as very few veterans of the day are still alive. As the first accounts fade, it becomes harder to get the story of what happened that day.

However, accounts still exist. They provide a story, whether they are from old newspapers or memoirs from a serviceman. Such is the story of Iowan Paul Aschbrenner. Aschbrenner was a veteran from Sumner, Iowa, who was present on the day of the attack. He described his experience that day during an interview with the Grout Museum District in Waterloo, Iowa, “I thought the world was coming to the end as the ship was rolling over and I couldn’t get out.” Aschbrenner described what he was doing as the torpedo hit the ship, “ I was standing in front of my locker… They said over the loudspeaker, man your battle stations, this no blank, and just as they said blank, one torpedo hit.” Aschbrenner was one of the lucky ones who survived that day and the rest of the war, unlike the 161,000 who died in the four years following until the Japanese surrender on September 2, 1945.

Of the 2,403 who died that day, 1,177 were killed on the USS Arizona after a bomb hit the gunpowder storage on the ship and it exploded. Around 900 bodies remain on the ship as it still rests at the bottom of Pearl Harbor, where Tourists can see it from the memorial above and reminisce on the day. US History Teacher Corey Kopatitch stated, “It’s a big part of our history. Getting involved in WWII would change the face of the world; it was a pretty big moment that country rallied around.” Kopatitch said this after he asked why it is essential to remember the attacks on pearl harbor.