National Pearl Harbor Remembrance Day
Published: December 7, 2023
On August 23, 1994, the United States Congress designated December 7th of each year as National Pearl Harbor Remembrance Day. All American flags should be flown at half-staff until sunset honoring those who lost their lives as a result of the attack on the U.S. Military and naval forces in Hawaii.
The bombing killed more than 2,300 Americans. It completely destroyed the American battleship U.S.S. Arizona and capsized the U.S.S. Oklahoma. The attack sank or beached a total of twelve ships and damaged nine others. Over 160 aircraft were destroyed and over 150 others damaged. The attack took the country by surprise, especially the ill-prepared Pearl Harbor base.
President Franklin Roosevelt called December 7, 1941, "a date which will live in infamy." On that day, Japanese planes attacked the United States Naval Base at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii Territory.
Read President Roosevelt's Address to Congress, 87 Cong. Rec. (Bound) - House of Representatives: December 8, 1941
(Image to the right) President Roosevelt delivers the "Day of Infamy" speech to a joint session of Congress on December 8, 1941. Behind him are Vice President Henry Wallace (left) and Speaker of the House Sam Rayburn. To the right, in uniform in front of Rayburn, is Roosevelt's son James, who escorted his father to the Capitol. (Franklin D. Roosevelt Library, Source: National Archives)
Search GovInfo for Congressional Bills, previous Presidential Proclamations, and other legislative documents related to Pearl Harbor.
Additional Article Sources and Resources
- Plan a trip to the National Park Service's Pearl Harbor National Memorial Park in Hawaii .
- Read ”Air Raid on Pearl Harbor,” and view the Naval dispatch sent from the Commander-in-Chief Pacific to all major Navy commands and fleet units announcing the attack on the Library of Congress website.
- View articles on Pearl Harbor on the National Archives website.
- View FDR’s “Day of Infamy” Speech, Crafting a Call to Arms on the National Archives website.
- Check out the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's (NOAA) website to view rare images and video details of a U.S. Navy seaplane lost within minutes of the attack at Pearl Harbor. These images and videos were released in December 2015 by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and University of Hawaii. The plane, which rests in three large pieces at a depth of 30 feet, is protected by the Sunken Military Craft Act of 2004, which prohibits unauthorized disturbance of military vessels or planes owned by the U.S. government, as well as foreign sunken military craft that lie within U.S. waters.