As the eyewitnesses to the Dec. 7, 1941, attack on Pearl Harbor become fewer and fewer every year, they leave their stories, their histories, to technology for future generations.
Technology not dreamed of in 1941 makes it possible to retell those stories in new and exciting ways using film footage, photos and audio files from that day 75 years ago.
“The interesting thing in the aftermath of the Pearl Harbor attack — the government censored the showing of any images so as not to alarm people to the tremendous extent of the damage to our fleet. A lot was classified,” said Northwest Indiana historian James B. Lane, professor emeritus of history at Indiana University Northwest in Gary.
But now, anyone can view moments on TV or a home computer from one of the most dramatic and brutal days in American history, because film footage and photos remain available from both world wars and those that came after.
“A date which will live in infamy,” is a famous quote from President Franklin D. Roosevelt’s speech to Congress and the nation on Dec. 8, 1941, about the attack, but until YouTube was founded in 2005, the actual footage wasn’t available at the click of a mouse.
Today, a quick Google search allows anyone to find video of Roosevelt and hear the passion in his voice in the historic speech.
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Technology also has evolved to create increasingly rich displays for these historic artifacts.
Time Inc.’s Life VR — as in virtual reality — recently released “Remembering Pearl Harbor,” which can be seen on Vive, a virtual reality game system. The story is told through the eyes of an actual Pearl Harbor veteran, Lt. James Downing, now 103 years old, who served as postmaster on the USS West Virginia. The program allows viewers to be in the moment with Downing. Visitors to the Newseum in Washington, D.C., and the Intrepid Sea, Air & Space Museum in New York City have access to “Remembering Pearl Harbor” this week as part of the 75th commemoration.
The Smithsonian Channel introduced its new series, “The Lost Tapes,” with an episode about Pearl Harbor on Sunday. The program included radio reports, film footage, audiotape, photos, wire dispatches and first-person accounts. According to Smithsonian Channel, some of the media sources had not been seen in 70 years.
“When I was growing up, it was a badge of pride to have a family member in that war,” Lane said. “Pearl Harbor will continue to be remembered. Those artifacts, those pictures, will keep it vivid. And it was such an important event. It brought home to Americans that the world is small and had come to a point where we could not be isolated from the world’s problems. It will be a big part of history, even if the celebrations of the veterans continue to tail off.”
John Trafny is a member of one of those families. Trafny taught history at Bishop Noll Institute in Hammond for 32 years and now is an adjunct history teacher at Purdue University Northwest and an author of four books in the “Images of America” series. His father, Steve Trafny, enlisted in 1939 and served in the 24th division of the U.S. Army, stationed at Schofield Barracks in Oahu.
“He was set to return stateside when they bombed Pearl Harbor,” said Trafny. “He was on his way to the mess hall — he thought one of the stoves exploded. Then he saw the rising sun (the Japanese emblem) on the side of the plane.”
When Trafny was a teacher, he thought it was important for students to hear veterans speak firsthand about their war experiences, and he still thinks it’s important for families to ask their war survivors about their experiences.
Trafny talked with his father and other family members to learn about what happened to them during World War II. He saved photos and letters his father wrote home — including the first letter the family received from him after the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor.
According to the family story, his Aunt Veronica wrote a letter to Roosevelt asking what happened to her brother. The letter was forwarded to the Red Cross and then on to Steve Trafny’s colonel, who ordered the young man to sit down in his presence and write his family a letter to let them know he was alive, John Trafny said.
Trafny’s father died in 1991, and his story is left to be told by his family. The younger Trafny said teachers “have more of an advantage (today) because we have (access to) photos and footage of the war. For Pearl Harbor we see the aftermath, later in the day. You can learn a lot more about what happened. We have another advantage. We have technology you can use in the classroom.”
Trafny favored two documentaries for his students: Ken Burns’ “The War,” a seven-part PBS documentary covering World War II including the attack on Pearl Harbor and “Victory at Sea,” an NBC documentary series from the 1950s. “The War” includes a curriculum for educators and “Victory at Sea” uses actual footage in various episodes including the Pearl Harbor episode, “The Pacific Boils Over.”
Though photos and film footage are powerful reminders, sometimes it is evidence that can be seen 75 years later that may leave its strongest impact.
Lane said he was a student at the University of Hawaii working on his master’s degree in 1965 when he was invited to visit Hickam Air Force base.
“There were still bullet marks on the buildings that had never been cleaned up,” Lane said. “The idea was that it was a symbol of a reminder to be vigilant and part of the reason Pearl Harbor happened was because of the lack of vigilance by the military.”
Nancy Coltun Webster is a freelance reporter for the Post-Tribune.