Fun Pearl Harbor Facts

• Pearl Harbor was just one attack on US soil. There are reports of attacks on both the East and West coast, including an air raid on Oregon’s state forest Mount Emily in 1942. President Roosevelt ordered the news not to be spread for the sake of morale.

• One politician in Congress voted against entering war with Japan after the attack. Montana Representative Jeannette Rankin said, “As a woman, I can’t go to war, and I refuse to send anyone else.”

• According to the National Park Service, oil has leaked from the sunken USS Arizona since the 1940s. Today the government estimates that 2-9 quarts of oil leaks every day.

• 30 percent of visitors to Pearl Harbor are from other countries.

•The Pearl Harbor Survivors Association is a not-for-profit that is still going strong, even with just 3,000. They strive to preserve the memory of those involved in the attack.

• While the 2001 film Pearl Harbor has many inaccuracies, Ben Affleck and Josh Hartnett’s characters mimic two of the 17 pilots that were able to reach a plane in time to defend Pearl Harbor from the sky.

• Chief nurse Lt. Annie Fox was the first woman to receive the Purple Heart for her leadership and bravery fulfilling her duties after the attack.

• Shortly after attacking Pearl Harbor, the Japanese crossed the international date line and invaded the Philippines on December 8th.

• Of the 8 battleships that were targeted during the attacks, all but 2 were eventually repaired and returned to the U.S. Navy’s fleet. The USS West Virginia and the USS California had both sunk completely, but the Navy raised them, repaired them, and reused them.