On pearl harbor a date that will live in infamy. The u. S. Declared war on japan after the attack and became fully embroiled in world war ii. Former senator john warner and retired vice admiral robert dunn recount how it changed the nation. The National Museum of the u. S. Navy hosted this hourlong program. Im the director of the National Museum and it is my pleasure to welcome you to the program. Yesterday, we observed the 73rd anniversary of the attack at pearl harbor. Today, we continue that observance with histories from two men who lived the experience. In all of our lives, there are some things that are inevitable that we remember. 9 11, the assassination of john kennedy, and for older americans, the attack on pearl harbor is one of those things you never forget where you were, what you were doing, and what happened on that day. The events of december 7, 1941 certainly changed us individually, our parents, our country. Today we are going to talk with two speakers. Both were young men on that fateful day. I want them to provide memories of the attack and how it changed their lives and our lives as a nation. Their perspective is from washington, d. C. , and illinois. Our first guest is john warner who served his country throughout his adult life, beginning as a young man as a Navy Enlisted sailor, a marine lieutenant, secretary of the navy, and as senator from the state of virginia. Senator warner volunteered for two periods of active duty. One was a sailor in the final days of world war ii and as a Second Lieutenant in the United States marine corps during the korean war. He completed his law degree at the university of Virginia School of law and from 1952 through 1960, he served as the assistant United States attorney for the district of columbia. He left his law practice in 1969 when he was appointed and by the senate as the undersecretary and later as the secretary of the United States navy, a position he held for more than five years during the vietnam war. Elected in 1978, senator warner served 30 years in the senate or he was viewed as one of the most influential senators for political and military informed policy issues. A native of chicago, our second speaker is vice admiral robert dunn. He has captivated the renaissance man of the United States navy. After a year at Northwestern University in illinois, he was appointed to the Naval Academy from which he graduated in 1951. He was initially commissioned. His duties included service in the korean war on the escort destroyer nicholas. That was followed by Flight Training and the winning of his Naval Aviation wings in 1953. Vice admiral dunn has commanded a large number of organizations with extensive time airborne in combat over vietnam. Most of his flying was with jets and Fighter Aircraft that is also designated as a helicopter pilot as well. He commanded a carrier squadron, a large amphibious ship, Aircraft Carrier saratoga was under his control. Admiral dunn left service as one of our top aviators and set policy for training, management, and personnel throughout his enterprise. He currently serves as a member of the board of a research and development company. He studied as a ramsey fellow at the smithsonian air and space museum and served as the chairman and president of the association of naval aviators. He has also served on aerospace boards and has been the past president of the naval historical foundation. Admiral dunn has written extensively in professional journals and is waiting for the publication of his book on naval safety 1950 to 2000. Our moderator tonight is dave winkler. Dr. Winkler obtained his phd in 1998 from american university. His phd dissertation, the cold war at sea, was published in 2000 by the Naval Institute and is currently awaiting publication in chinese. He has also written a book published by the Naval Institute press in 2007 and is the managing editor of the navy, an illustrated Coffee Table Book published by the foundation. His latest book covers the Naval Reserve and is due out later this month. Dr. Winkler is also the director of programs with the naval historical foundation. Dave is a commissioned sailor as well. He was commissioned as an ensign in 1980 through the rotc program at penn state where he earned his b. A. In Political Science and m. A. In International Affairs at washington university. He is a retired Navy Commander with the navy reserves. Ladies and gentlemen, welcome our panel, david winkler, john warner, bob dunn. [applause] in the fall of 1941, america began to challenge the growing german uboat menace in the atlantic with an unofficial naval war. In asia, the u. S. Exerted pressure on japan to end its fouryear war with china and recent occupation of french indochina. Receiving no acceptable japanese response, the u. S. On the number on november 26 issued an ultimatum to japanese leaders to cease hostilities and withdraw forces or face continued economic sanctions. Japans leaders decided to fight instead. Admiral yamamoto, commander of the japanese fleet, had serious misgivings. Because of Americas Industrial superiority, japan would have to win the war quickly. Because of those misgivings, he insisted on opening the war with a crippling attack on the u. S. Pacific fleet at pearl harbor, hawaii. A strike force of six carriers under command of the admiral moved east across the pacific toward hawaii. Based on decoded japanese diplomatic traffic, the navy issued a warning to all commands. It was the latest in a series of alerts. The afternoon of december 6, the admiral, commander of the japanese strike force, received an Intelligence Report about pearl harbor. The american battleships were present, but the Aircraft Carriers were at sea. Although disappointed at the carriers absence, his orders were clear. He must still attack and destroy whatever battleships and combat aircraft were at pearl harbor. That night his ships turned south arriving at a point 230 miles north of oahu before dawn on december 7. After a final reconnaissance showed the Americans Still appeared unprepared for attack at 6 00 a. M. , he gave the order to launch. The first wave of 182 aircraft swooped over the islands and attacked as the american base was just coming to life on a sunday morning. The japanese pilots immediately zeroed in on the line of dark gray ships anchored along battleship row. The oklahoma took three torpedo hits in quick succession and began to capsize. At the same time, the West Virginia was hit by several torpedoes. The arizona was hit by two bombs, one of which struck the forward magazine causing a spectacular explosion. The arizona quickly sank killing more than 1000 crewmembers. The california also sank. The nevada was able to get underway for a short time, but it was sinking and had to be beached. The maryland and tennessee were damaged. The attackers also managed to destroy most american planes as they sat on the runways preventing any major counterattack. A second wave of japanese planes added to the success of the first. The u. S. Pacific fleet, caught offguard in a surprise attack, was in a state of shock. America was now at war. Yesterday, december 7, 1941 a date which will live in infamy, the United States of america was suddenly and deliberately attacked by naval and air forces of the empire of japan. The facts of yesterday and today speak for themselves. We will gain the inevitable triumph, so help us god. [applause] while the devastation at pearl harbor was significant, it was far from complete. The two u. S. Carriers at sea that day, soon to be joined by a third, would make life difficult for the Japanese Navy in the months to come. Yamamotos fears proved correct. The attack had indeed aroused the American Public who rallied to the war effort with new determination and vowed to remember pearl harbor. Ok, with that introductory film, again, my name is dave winkler. Im with the historical foundation. It is a privilege to moderate this session with senator warner and vice admiral dunn. This is a great venue to have this discussion. At the Washington Navy yard and museum, during world war ii, this was known as the Washington Navy gun factory. This was the largest Industrial Facility in the nations capital. They churned out guns and armament sent out to the ships in the fleet that helped bring the war to the japanese and germans. During world war ii, we would be sitting in the middle of a heavy industrial complex, as you can see above and around us. If you have an opportunity in the museum, there is an excellent exhibit about the homefront, which is going to be back at the back end of the museum. Take time to go through that. We will be talking about a lot of those themes in our conversation. The second thing jim mentioned is we do have a book coming out which i authored on the history of the navy reserve. It is a neat coincidence because i have two individuals i profile in that book, senator warner, as secretary of the navy, he was the father of the one navytotal force policy that the navy reserve today follows. Vice admiral dunn in the early 1980s was the chief of navy reserve and got the funding, a lot of it through the senate, to bring the navy reserve up to standards and integrate it into the full navy. Both of these gentlemen are connected in that way. The final thing i want to mention about the book is the fact that a key component for me to write on the history of the Naval Reserve is oral interviews. Admiral dunns interview was very helpful to me. As someone who does oral history, one of the things i key on is important dates in history because we remember that. I remember where i was on 9 11. I was in kindergarten when president kennedy was assassinated. I remember that still decades later. That is where i would like to open the conversation. Before going into world war ii i would like to get a little background starting off with the senator. Talk about your parents growing up in washington, d. C. Did your father have Prior Service . What was the situation prior to world war ii for you as a young boy growing up in the city . I want to acknowledge to the museum and leaders here this is a extraordinary, interesting chapter in history you are developing on film, and i thank the audience for joining us. I want to make it clear as i look around, i am totally awed because i was 17 years old in the fall of 44 and enlisted in the navy and went on active duty early in 45. To the extent i have had a career, it all started with what the navy taught me in those days at age 17. I was but one of thousands of young men and a few women all across america that enlisted when we were 17. That foundation enabled me to build such a career as i have had. But i will acknowledge i am in the presence of this wonderful admiral. When he gets his turn, this politician stops talking. His career is the one i always dreamed i wanted to have and questioned whether i had the mettle or strength to do what he did. There is a man that personifies all of my dreams. I wanted to be a naval aviator. Anyway, so much for that. My father had been in world war i as a doctor and a young captain in the army and went through all much of that war three major engagements. On the final day of the war, he was in the trenches helping to save the life of a person who, knowing that armistice was coming, looked over the trench and a german sniper got him. Dad could not save him. I remember dad told me the story. The war came to an abrupt end in the 11th month, 11th hour, 11 day of november. Dad taught me the fundamentals of military training, the value in it. He was a wonderful man. I lost him far too early in life. But he still is the icon that encouraged me to reach out and do the things i have done. You asked about pearl harbor day. I remember it as if it were yesterday because i was in old griffith stadium watching the redskins play the philadelphia eagles. The microphone would interrupt the game periodically and say, admiral soandso call your office, general soandso, call your office. Mr. Soandso, call your office. It was a little annoying to us and we did not know what it was. The owner of the stadium, a fellow named griffith had the Baseball Team and football team. He made the decision they would not announce the tragedy america had undergone in the few hours we were there. It was probably a wise decision because we went through the Football Game and ended it. When we went out to the parking lot, the First Edition of a special newspaper was being hocked on the streets. Mind you, it was december and dark. We bought a paper. We could not understand it. It was not until we got into our automobiles that a measure of reality came to us. We turned on those funny little radios that only had two dials. Simple as could be, but they worked well. You had this fragment of a broadcast coming through. People, i dont want to say that they were panicking, but they were terribly frightened. You did not stop for red lights. You just went in all different directions. People did not know what to do except flee as quickly as they could to their homes. Had that announcement been made in the stadium, i think we would have witnessed a lot of trouble and injury of people trying to rush out of the stadium. That is what i remember. I will leave the floor now to my distinguished colleague. Talk about growing up in chicago, a little bit about your family background and leading up to that day. I want to thank senator warmer for those auditory comments. You are most kind. He is the one that deserves that kind of praise. I served him when he was an outstanding secretary of the navy and again when he was a most effective senator from the state of virginia. Thank you for that. Thank you. I did grow up in chicago, born there, raised on the northwest side. Nothing spectacular about it. School, boy scouts, so forth. But on sunday, december 7, i had just come back from sunday school and church. I was probably reading the funnies. Dick tracy, little orphan annie. My aunt was visiting from the west coast. She was with my grandparents who were living upstairs. She came running down crying the japs have attacked pearl harbor lest that offend anyone, that is what we called them in those days. We turned on our radio to get what information we could. There was not a lot other than the fact that there were a couple of battleships hit. Nothing about anything else. It was the next day that made the impression however. I was in the eighth grade. In school that day, our teacher had brought a radio in and turned the radio on. We heard president roosevelts speech, the one you heard part of here. We heard him call this a date which will live in infamy. That made a tremendous impression on all of us. You asked what was going on in chicago. The people in chicago, and i daresay all of the midwest and far west, were very well oriented towards war in the pacific. That is the war japan was fighting against china and the other things japan was doing. In fact, there was a general consensus that did not understand why there was all this hullabaloo about supporting great britain. It was japan that was the enemy, not great britain. I know it was different on the east coast. But this is the way it was on the west coast. I have to interject here. I was told ahead of time you were at a redskins game. I thought at first that was the game when the bears beat the redskins 730. I thought that too, but that was two years before. Anyhow, back to my story. The next day, young men were lined up at recruiting stations, army and Navy Recruiting stations, with lines around the block. Some women went out and broke the japanese china because they were so mad at japan. My mother said, i will do no such thing. I paid good money for that china. That was about the extent of it on that particular day. Could i interject one thing . I was in chicago in my final training in 1945 as a radio technician. The captain said during an emergency for everyone go into the small auditorium we had off the navy pier. He said to go in and lock the doors. We did not know. A bunch of 17 and 18yearold sailors. What was this about . He said i want to know who among you do not drink. No self respecting sailor is going to admit that. Finally, they hammered out a group of us that were tolerant in our drinking habits. He said the rest were dismissed. The 25 of us, he said i will confide in you with a topsecret message. The president is going to announce tonight that germany is surrendering. This is in april of that year. You are going to be shore patrol. Youre going into the loop and you are going to maintain order. They issued an armband, belt whistle, no side arms. A couple of other things. Sp on your sleeve. Marched us into the crowd in the loop on the which is the central part of chicago. Chicago was known as the best liberty town almost in the whole United States. I remember on sundays, you would go down to the u. S. O. And get a three by five card that was say come to lunch. Church and lunch. Then they would often say, we have a daughter 18. That card went like that. But it was the sharing american had among ourselves. The unity of this nation. Never since that period has this nation been so close and dedicated and respectful of each other. But anyway to finish the story shore patrol, halfway through the night, one million people, everybody was kissing. The girls kissing the boys having a good time. There was no liquor left because the bars ran out in 20 minutes. No way to resupply them. Everybody was just having a good time. The first girl i kissed i gave my hat, the second the armband and went back to