Day of Infamy, 60th Anniversary: The Classic Account of the Bombing of Pearl Harbor (The Classic Account of the Bombing of Pearl Harbor)
Lord, Walter, Lord, Walter | Owl Books (NY)
29,290원 | 20010501 | 9780805068030
Walter Lordis the author of several best-selling works of history, including A Night to Remember, a re-creation of the sinking of the Titanic.
CHAPTER 1 "Isn't That a Beautiful Sight?" Monica Conter, a young Army nurse, and Second Lieutenant Barney Benning of the Coast Artillery strolled out of the Pearl Harbor Officers' Club, down the path near the ironwood trees, and stood by the club landing, watching the launches take men back to the warships riding at anchor. They were engaged, and the setting was perfect. The workshops, the big hammerhead crane, all the paraphernalia of the Navy's great Hawaiian base were hidden by the night; the daytime clatter was gone; only the pretty things were left -- the moonlight . . . the dance music that drifted from the club . . . the lights of the Pacific Fleet that shimmered across the harbor. And there were more lights than ever before. For the first weekend since July 4 all the battleships were in port at once. Normally they took turns -- six might be out with Admiral Pye's battleship task force, or three would be off with Admiral Halsey 's carrier task force. This was Pye's turn in, but Halsey was out on a special assignment that meant leaving his battleships behind. A secret "war warning" had been received from Washington -- Japan was expected to hit "the Philippines, Thai, or Kra Peninsula or possibly Borneo" -- and the carrier Enterprise was ferrying a squadron of Marine fighters to reinforce Wake Island. Battleships would slow the task force's speed from 30 to 17 knots. Yet they were too vulnerable to maneuver alone without carrier protection. The only other carrier, the Lexington, was off ferrying planes to Midway, so the battleships stayed at Pearl Harbor, where it was safe. With the big ships in port, the officers' club seemed even gayer and more crowded than usual, as Monica Conter and Lieutenant Benning walked back and rejoined the group at the table. Somebody suggested calling Lieutenant Bill Silvester, a friend of them all who this particular evening was dining eight miles away in downtown Honolulu. Monica called him, playfully scolded him for deserting his buddies -- the kind of call that has been placed thousands of times by young people late in the evening, and memorable this time only because it was the last night Bill Silvester would be alive. Then back to the dance, which was really a conglomeration of Dutch treats and small private parties given by various officers for their friends: "Captain Montgomery E. Higgins and Mrs. Higgins entertained at the Pearl Harbor Officers' Club . . . Lieutenant Commander and Mrs. Harold Pullen gave a dinner at the Pearl Harbor Officers' Club . . ." -- the Honolulu Sunday Advertiser rattled them off in its society column the following morning. Gay but hardly giddy. The bar always closed at midnight. The band seemed in a bit of a rut -- its favorite "Sweet Leilani" was now over four years old. The place itself was the standard blend of chrome, plywood, and synthetic leather, typical of all officers' clubs everywhere. But it was cheap -- dinner for a dollar -- and it was friendly. In the Navy everybody still seemed to know everybody else on December 6, 1941. Twelve miles away, Brigadier General Durward S. Wilson, commanding the 24th Infantry Division, was enjoying the same kind of evening at the Schofield Barracks Officers' Club. Here, too, the weekly Saturday night dance seemed even gayer than usual -- partly because many of the troops in the 24th and 25th Divisions had just come off a long, tough week in the field; partly because it was the night of Ann Etzler's Cabaret, a benefit show worked up annually by "one of the very talented young ladies on the post," as General Wilson gallantly puts it. The show featured amateur singing and dancing -- a little corny perhaps, but it was all in the name of charity and enjoyed the support of everybody who counted, including Lieut. General Walter C. Short, commanding general of the Hawaiian Department. Actually, General Short was late. He had been trapped by a phone
A special 60th anniversary edition of the bestselling re-creation of the surprise attack on Pearl Harbor, by the author of A Night to Remember.Sunday, December 7, 1941, was, as President Roosevelt said, "a date which will live in infamy." Day of Infamy is a fascinating account of that unforgettable day's events. In brilliant detail Walter Lord traces the human drama of the great attack: the spies behind it; the Japanese pilots; the crews on the stricken warships; the men at the airfields and the bases; the Japanese pilot who captured an island single-handedly when he could not get back to his carrier; the generals, the sailors, the housewives, and the children who responded to the attack with anger, numbness, and magnificent courage.In piecing together the saga of Pearl Harbor, Lord traveled over fourteen thousand miles and spoke or corresponded with over five hundred individuals who were there. He obtained exclusive interviews with members of the Japanese attacking force and spent hundreds of hours with the Americans who received the blow -- not just the admirals and generals, but enlisted men and families as well. He visited each of the Hawaiian bases attacked and pored over maps, charts, letters, diaries, official files, newspapers, and some twenty-five thousand pages of testimony, discovering a wealth of information that had never before been revealed. Day of Infamy is an inspiring human document and the best account we have of one of the epic events in American history.
A special 60th anniversary edition of the bestselling re-creation of the surprise attack on Pearl Harbor, by the author of A Night to Remember. Sunday, December 7, 1941, was, as President Roosevelt said, "a date which will live in infamy." Day of Infamyis a fascinating account of that unforgettable day's events. In brilliant detail Walter Lord traces the human drama of the great attack: the spies behind it; the Japanese pilots; the crews on the stricken warships; the men at the airfields and the bases; the Japanese pilot who captured an island single-handedly when he could not get back to his carrier; the generals, the sailors, the housewives, and the children who responded to the attack with anger, numbness, and magnificent courage. In piecing together the saga of Pearl Harbor, Lord traveled over fourteen thousand miles and spoke or corresponded with over five hundred individuals who were there. He obtained exclusive interviews with members of the Japanese attacking force and spent hundreds of hours with the Americans who received the blow -- not just the admirals and generals, but enlisted men and families as well. He visited each of the Hawaiian bases attacked and pored over maps, charts, letters, diaries, official files, newspapers, and some twenty-five thousand pages of testimony, discovering a wealth of information that had never before been revealed. Day of Infamyis an inspiring human document and the best account we have of one of the epic events in American history.
"There have been many books on Pearl Harbor . . . but none of them have ever equaled Lord's in telling the story of Pearl Harbor."Stephen E. Ambrose "The carefully planned hour-by-hour recording of the surprise assault on Pearl Harbor . . . is as engrossing as the story of the sinking of the Titanic and more harrowing."The Atlantic
"There have been many books on Pearl Harbor . . . but none of them have ever equaled Lord's in telling the story of Pearl Harbor."Stephen E. Ambrose "The carefully planned hour-by-hour recording of the surprise assault on Pearl Harbor . . . is as engrossing as the story of the sinking of the Titanicand more harrowing." The Atlantic
