Political Quotes

“I rise to commemorate the 75th anniversary of the attack on Pearl Harbor. For the people of Hawaii, it started as an ordinary sunny Sunday morning in December. Families were getting ready for church; others were preparing breakfast. It was quiet. It was peaceful. Just before 8 a.m., the first wave of Japanese warplanes started their coordinated surprise attack on the island of Oahu. Bombers attacked aircraft clustered wing tip to wing tip at Wheeler and Hickham Airfields, making it too easy for Japanese pilots to destroy their targets. By the end of the attack, Japanese forces sunk four of the eight battleships at Ford Island. Another battleship intentionally ran aground in the harbor to avoid blocking the channel. Three destroyers and seven other ships were sunk or severely damaged. It was the worst disaster in U.S. naval history. There were 2,403 servicemembers killed or mortally wounded, and 1,247 servicemembers were injured. Fifty-seven civilians were killed. Across Oahu, people watched as smoke and fire blackened the sky over Pearl Harbor. Among those were two 17-year-olds, Daniel K. Inouye and Daniel K. Akaka. Like many others that day, they were called to duty. Senator Daniel Akaka, then an ROTC student at the Kamehameha School for Boys, grabbed a rifle and guarded the hills above the school from potential Japanese paratroopers.…”