Dear America | Early Sunday Morning: the Pearl Harbor Diary of Amber Billows, Hawaii, 1941

On the heels of the much-anticipated movie "Pearl Harbor", acclaimed author Barry Dennenberg has written a moving story of one girl's devasting expenrience at Pearl Harbor, December 7, 1941.

Pearl Harbor, on the Island of O'ahu, Hawaii, was attacked by the Japanese Imperial Navy at approximately 8:00 A.M., Sunday morning, December 7, 1941. The surprise attack involved a striking force of 353 Japanese aircraft. Nineteen U.S. ships, including five battleships, and about 150 U.S planes were destroyed; more than 2,300 soldiers, sailors and civilians were killed. President Roosevelt declared that it was "a day that will live in infamy." On December 8, Congress declared a state of war with Japan; three days later Germany and Italy declared was on the United States.