Reflections of Pearl Harbor: An Oral History of December 7, 1941

by K.D. Richardson

When the Empire of Japan launched a surprise attack on American bases in Hawaii, the people of the United States knew instantly that the nation was at war. So devastating was the news to a country still largely in the throes of a depression that survivors can still recall some six decades later where they were, who gave them the news, the clothes they were wearing, and the confusion and eventual hardships that such a development brought. This collection of memories, told in participants' own words, gathers accounts from both military and civilians, children and adults, people of many ethnic backgrounds, from all over of the United States. Together, these ordinary Americans paint a portrait of a nation stunned, but determined to rise again.

While few if any were left unmoved by the prospect of war, some grief was The hangar was bombed causing it to collapse, killing my brother. For others, it raised deep questions about a once secure sense of I did wonder why we (Japanese Americans) were singled out. What about the German Americans? With each passing year, more members of this generation pass from our midst, taking a piece of history with them. Determined to preserve these accounts, Richardson includes 160 personal narratives that describe a day in the life of America; that day was December 7, 1941.

192 pages, Hardcover

First published September 5, 2000

About the author

I began my writing career back in 1996. Inspired by Ken Burns' PBS series The Civil War, and by a Civil War artist and co-worker named Todd Price, I decided to take a trip to the Gettysburg battlefield to see for myself what all of the interest was about. I was so inspired by the sights and feel of the battlefield, that I revisited the area several times over the next couple of years. That's when I felt I was motivated to the point where I begin writing a fictional story about the Battle of Gettysburg. That story was called, "Journey Across Time". Journey was a tough sell as is all fiction today, but I didn't let a little set back such as that keep me from writing.

Around that time I asked a national columnist if he had any advice for a fledgling writer. His reply was simple: "If you must write, write." I took that to mean that if you want to write, don't let publication, or lack thereof, stand in your way. Write because you feel you have a unique way of telling a story. So I continued to write.

Just before 911, I began a non-fictional book about the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor. I thought I would let the people who lived through that period in our nation's history tell about that historic day through their eyes. I collected over 170 stories from people all across America telling where they were and what they were doing when they heard of the attack...and how it impacted their lives-short and long term. Even the publishers who rejected Reflections of Pearl Harbor said that the book, originally titled The Date Which Lives In Infamy, sounded like a neat project. Eventually, prestigous publisher Praeger (Greenwood) Publishing picked it up for hardcover, and it's still available in paperback.

I followed Reflections up by landing publishers for Journey Across Time (Dailey Swan) and The Second Season (Vanilla Heart) in the same month. Vanilla Heart also liked my follow-up to The Second Season, A Different Drummer, so they signed me up for that one as well.

I self published Spirit of the Season as it was actually a screenplay I penned the previous year. Since it was a 120-page screenplay, it would have been stretching the story too much to extend the content to more than 150 pages in novel form. Since it is a Christmas-themed story, not too many publishers would consider a short novel that would sell just two months out of the year. Thus, Fort Hamilton Publishing was born.

In late 2011, I completed a screenplay titled Destiny's Echo. From that, I turned the script into a 33,000 word short novel titled A Union of Souls. An e-publisher called The Fiction Works liked the story and agreed to feature the book on their site. The PB version is available through this website.

Today I consider myself an accomplished author with six published books to my credit, seven edited screenplays under my belt, and I write a sports column for the Venice Cornerstone newspaper in Ohio. If you must write, write!

Reviews

[Melissa Salsgiver]

A quick read if you want or take the time to savor what individuals remembered. Haunting. I learned things about the 1940's that I never heard but these people lived.

[jj Grilliette]

Enjoyed hearing it in the words of the people that lived it