Pearl Harbor
Sometimes the most illuminating way to learn about history is through photos that capture the atmosphere in a way words cannot. The black-and-white photos in Ernest Arroyo's bookPearl Harbordo this brilliantly. One depicts sailors in the midst of salvaging remains of damaged seaplanes when they are interrupted by the explosion of a torpedo obliterating a vessel. Half the sky is lit by fire, the other darkened with thick black smoke. It's impossible not to lament the Pearl Harbor tragedy as Arroyo guides the reader through a timeline beginning with the soldiers' activities the evening preceding the bombing. Some watched movies, others attended hula presentations, and others wrote home--what was for many one last letter. Several pages then describe the bombing and its aftermath for the United States. Arroyo includes statistics, as well as personal accounts of individual trials among military members and civilians. These tales convey the men's everyday humanity (some are described in combat in their pajamas), but also their exceptional courage, including those awarded medals of honor for displaying "complete disregard of [their] own [lives]." No one who reads this book will say they don't "remember Pearl Harbor," which Arroyo states as his objective.--Yvonne Schindler