Battleship USS Arizona on fire and sinking (Image source: archives.gov)
Moments before 8 a.m. on December 7, 1941, the United States was ‘suddenly and deliberately attacked.’ Hundreds of Japanese fighter planes and bombers launched a surprise assault on American soil at Pearl Harbor in Hawaii. The volley on the U.S. naval base was swift and devastating: 2,403 Americans were killed, and another 1,178 were wounded; American battleships sunk; other ships irreparably damaged; and almost 200 U.S. aircraft were destroyed.
President Roosevelt delivers his “Day of Infamy” speech to a joint session of Congress on December 8, 1941. (Image source: archives.gov)
The next day, President Franklin D. Roosevelt asked Congress to formally declare war against Imperial Japan. It was then that Roosevelt spoke those famous words, proclaiming December 7, 1941 “a date which will live in infamy.” America had finally joined WWII. That momentous week of loss and defiance took place seventy-four years ago this month. The GPO makes available a variety of gov docs that reference the historic Pearl Harbor attack.
GPO’s Federal Digital System provides free access to a number of Federal Government documents related to Pearl Harbor:
- National Pearl Harbor Remembrance Day, 60thAnniversary in the Congressional Record
- Presidential Proclamation of National Pearl Harbor Remembrance Day
- U.S. Code Title 36 § 129. National Pearl Harbor Remembrance Day
Visit GPO’s Catalog of U.S. Government Publications for documents about Pearl Harbor:
- “Pearl Harbor Revisited: United States Navy Communications Intelligence, 1924 – 1941,”from the National Security Agency Center for Cryptologic History
- “Staff Ride Handbook for the Attack on Pearl Harbor, 7 December 1941: A Study of Defending America,” from the Combat Studies Institute
- “7 December 1941: The Air Force Story,” from the USAF Pacific Air Forces Office of History
And finally, shop the GPO online bookstore World War II collection.
HOW DO I OBTAIN THESE RESOURCES?
Click on the Links: For the free resources, click on the links above in the blog post.
Shop Online Anytime: You can buy eBooks or print publications —with FREE Standard Shipping worldwide— from the U.S. Government Online Bookstore at http://bookstore.gpo.gov.
Shop our Retail Store: Buy a copy of any print editions from this collection at GPO’s retail bookstore at 710 North Capitol Street NW, Washington, DC 20401, open Monday–Friday, 9 a.m. to 4 p.m., except Federal holidays, Call (202) 512-0132 for information or to arrange in-store pick-up.
Order by Phone: Call our Customer Contact Center Monday through Friday, 8 am to 5:30 pm Eastern (except US Federal holidays). From US and Canada, call toll-free 1.866.512.1800. DC or International customers call +1.202.512.1800.
Visit a Federal depository library: Search for U.S. Government publications in a nearby Federal depository library. You can find the records for most titles in GPO’s Catalog of U.S. Government Publications.
About the author: Our guest blogger is Chelsea Milko, Public Relations Specialist in GPO’s Public Relations Office.
Posted by Trudy Hawkins 
govbooktalk
Trudy Hawkins
Government Book Talk 