"A Date Which Will Live in Infamy"
By FUPress
7th December 2015
On this date 74 years ago, December 7th, 1941, the Empire of Japan attacked the American naval base at Pearl Harbor. While the United States was not yet a part of World War II, this was the event that President Franklin D. Roosevelt needed to enter the United States into the Second Great War. Over 2,300 American servicemen lost their lives in this attack fighting for our country’s safety and freedom. We remember them today.
We remember them in our hearts and minds as we think of their bravery as they endured those horrific attacks on our nation. We remember those who fought in World War II and those who sacrificed everything to provide for our American citizens. We remember them through learning more about the battles in which they fought and educating ourselves to prevent similar things from happening again.
In Letters to Lee: From Pearl Harbor to the War’s Final Mission, Lt. General James V. Edmundson writes personal accounts of different events during World War II through letters with his wife, Lee. His daughter, Celia, compiled the letters and created this book.
This very personal story is told through chronological vignettes, letters, newspaper and magazine articles of the period. The vignettes were written in 2000 – the letters begin in 1939 in the beautiful Territory of Hawaii. The two are interwoven and provide incredible descriptions and detail of the conditions both before and after the U.S. entry into the War; of the early fighting in the South Pacific; of the highly secret development and implementation of the Superfortress, which ultimately brought an end to Japan’s war against the United States; and of the China-Burma-India Theater, as the war accelerates and the last mission is flown.
Take the time to remember these heroes who lost their lives at Pearl Harbor and learn more about the causes for which they fought. Check out Chasing Ghosts: A Memoir of a Father, Gone to War, A Pact with Vichy: Angelo Tasca from Italian Socialism to French Collaboration, and the rest of Fordham Press’ World War II series.