The flags at the Embassy and at other American facilities around the world will fly at half mast today in commemoration of National Pearl Harbor Remembrance Day. Since I’m in transit today, what follows is a revised version of my post from December 7, 2011.

The first seconds of the attack on Pearl Harbor, recorded from an enemy fighter.

At 7:55 a.m. on a quiet Sunday morning 71 years ago today, waves of more than 350 hostile fighter, bomber, and torpedo planes darkened the dawn skies over Oahu in a surprise attack designed to cripple America’s defenses and advance a rival power’s aggressive expansion through the Pacific. No declaration of war had been issued.

On the rise and in need of resources to advance its regional objectives, Japan had already invaded Manchuria, China, and French Indochina. It was starting to push into Malaya and the Dutch East Indies to insure control of supplies of oil, minerals, and other resources needed to fuel its ongoing development.

USS Shaw explodes after being struck at the start of the attack.

Tokyo mistakenly believed that the United States would declare war when Japan launched its long-planned invasion of Great Britain’s Southeast Asian colonies. The preemptive attack by a Japanese aircraft carrier strike force on Pearl Harbor, home of the US Pacific fleet, was intended to cripple America’s ability to defend its Pacific neighbors.

While Pearl Harbor was burning, Japanese military forces attacked simultaneously in multiple other locations across the Pacific region. Guam, Wake Island, Manila, and Singapore were bombed. Malaya, Thailand, and the Philippines were invaded. Shanghai was seized. Japanese troops pushed toward Hong Kong and Burma. All the same day.

USS Arizona sinks in Pearl Harbor, taking 1,177 young Americans to their deaths.

In Pearl Harbor that day 2,402 Americans were killed and 1,247 were wounded. On American soil. While the nation was at peace. Eighteen American ships and approximately 340 American aircraft were destroyed or severely damaged.

In Washington, Japanese envoys arrived at the State Department after the attack had begun, to deliver a document from Tokyo criticizing the United States for not accommodating Japan’s demands in ongoing bilateral discussions. A declaration of war by Japan was not delivered until the next day.

USS California sinks in Pearl Harbor.

The morning of December 8th, President Franklin Delano Roosevelt addressed an emergency joint session of the American Congress, beginning with one of the most iconic sentences uttered in American history: “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 address was broadcast live by radio to the American people. Twenty-one minutes after President Roosevelt finished speaking, the Senate voted 82-0 to declare war on Japan. Twelve minutes later, the House of Representatives concurred by a vote of 388-1. (The lone dissenting vote was cast by Republican Jeannette Rankin of Montana.)

President Roosevelt addresses a joint session of Congress on Dec. 8, 1941.

A strong streak of isolationism has always run through the American psyche, including as war raged elsewhere during 1940 and 1941. The America First Committee and other non-interventionist groups remained strong despite growing anxiety over the hegemonic waves sweeping Europe and East Asia. The Roosevelt Administration had begun taking economic steps to aid beseiged Britain and the Republic of China, but strong majorities of the population and elected officials still opposed entering foreign wars.

The attack on Pearl Harbor changed all that. Americans were shocked — forever, I would argue — out of our belief that the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans provide a safe buffer from the troubles and ills of the rest of the world. In a way that few other events have, Pearl Harbor altered the course of American thinking, history, society, and politics.

Lowering the Embassy flag.

For the next several years we and our friends will commemorate the 70th and 75th anniversaries of the terrible events of that era that shattered societies and changed the world.

Since December 7th last year we at American Mission New Zealand have focused on the joint service, shared sacrifice, and common values that bound Kiwis and Americans so tightly together during the War, and which still provide the bedrock on which our relationship stands today.

We continue the Septuagennial process by planning for several important 2013 commemorations including the 70th anniversary of First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt’s iconic island-hop tour at the height of the Pacific War which brought her to New Zealand for a week.

Today, though, is about remembering Pearl Harbor, honoring those killed that Sunday in 1941, revisiting the lasting lessons learned, and drawing strength from how friends pulled together and persisted through even the darkest of days.

As President Obama noted in his Proclamation, “We pay solemn tribute to America’s sons and daughters who made the ultimate sacrifice at Oahu. As we do, let us also reaffirm that their legacy will always burn bright — whether in the memory of those who knew them, the spirit of service that guides our men and women in uniform today, or the heart of the country they kept strong and free.”

Welcome to the 6th installment of my series on great American universities and how to navigate our extensive, highly diverse system of higher education. Today I’ll be highlighting the University of Hawai’i campus at Mānoa.

The University of Hawai’i (“UH”) is an excellent example of the American phenomenon known as a “university system,” which is an integrated set of separately accredited tertiary education institutions within a particular geographic jurisdiction that share a name and an overall governing body.

Almost every one of our 50 States established and maintains such a public university system. In addition to UH, other great examples include the University of California (containing UCLA, Berkeley, and 8 other universities) and the State University of New York (the largest in the world, with 66 campuses and more than 468,000 students).

The University of Hawai’i system comprises 3 universities, 4 professional schools, 7 community colleges, and more than two dozen other educational, research, and training centers across the Hawaiian islands, with a total enrollment of more than 60,300 students. The University of Hawaii’s flagship campus is Mānoa (“UH Mānoa”).

The heritage Hawaii Hall, at the heart of campus.

Founded in 1907, UH Mānoa is located in the lush Mānoa Valley, a neighborhood at the edge of urban Honolulu only a mile (1.6 km) from the iconic beaches and entertainment of Waikīkī. Equally close is the vibrant Ala Moana shopping district. Downtown Honolulu is about 3 miles (4.8 km) from the school.

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The establishment of formal N.Z.-U.S. diplomatic relations and the arrival of American military forces in Aotearoa in 1942 were events of great historical significance that helped transform the region, but they were also very personal events that directly touched the lives of millions of people.

My colleague Laura is a research whiz who has devoted a great deal of time and effort to giving our 70^th anniversary celebrations this year the authentic, human context that they deserve. Since she’s the expert, I’ve asked Laura to talk today a bit about 1942. Take it away, Laura.

*   *   *

LM: Thank you, Ambassador. I’m going to paint you a picture.

It’s 1942. Mrs. Miniver has won best picture at the 14^th Academy Awards in Los Angeles. Glenn Miller rules the charts with “String of Pearls,” “Midnight Cocktail,” and “Chattanooga Choo Choo,” a gold disc winning single selling 1 million copies. The St. Louis Cardinals beat the New York Yankees to win the World Series. ‘Archie’ comic books make their debut. Casablanca will be released later in the year and earn an iconic place in cinematic history.

Against this backdrop of cultural milestones, the world is at war. The United States has just entered the conflict following the bombing of Pearl Harbor and now there are American troops far from home in Europe, Africa, and the Pacific. Rationing has been instituted by the Office of Price Administration and all are encouraged to “make do with less.”

Voice of America’s William Harlan Hale begins his broadcasts across the world. Rosie the Riveter is encouraging women to join the war effort:

 All the day long,
Whether rain or shine,
She’s part of the assembly line.
She’s making history,
Working for victory,
Rosie the Riveter.

Approximately 6,882 miles from California, on June 12, 1942, U.S. Navy Cruiser USS San Francisco escorts the USS Uruguay, Santa Clara, Tasker, M. Bliss, and the James Parker on a grey winter’s day. A U.S. Navy Destroyer, USS Farragut, follows behind carrying troops from the 37th U.S. Army Division. The ships pull into Waitemata Harbour in a country called New Zealand.

Two days later, on June 14, 1942, USS Wakefield docks at King’s Wharf in Wellington, along with USS West Point which is about to head back to San Francisco after a brief stop in Australia. USS Wakefield is an impressive sight. A former transatlantic liner, weighing in at 24,000 tons, the Wakefield unloads the 1^st Marine Division and Major General Alexander Vandergrift. After this, to paraphrase historian Harry Bioletti, New Zealand is never quite same again.

Not all of the men and women on board these ships know where they’ve arrived, many asking, “What town, where are we?”  They do know they’re here for a very important reason.  And this will not be their final destination.  Many are destined to enter the Pacific theater of war in active combat. Some will never return home from the shores of places like Tarawa, Guadalcanal, and Midway.

U.S. Marines march down Queen Street in Auckland, June 1942.

The 2nd Marine Corps Division will pass their time practicing drills on the Kapiti Coast of Wellington. In Warkworth, north of Auckland, U.S. servicemen of the 3rd Marine Corps Division and the 25th and 43rd Divisions of the U.S. Army will do the same on Omaha Beach (not to be confused with Omaha beach in Normandy). 

The 15,000 – 45,000 U.S. service men and women stationed in New Zealand at any one time — a total of more than 150,000 over the course of the war — will bring with them new music, new dances, other new cultural phenomena, new ideas, and silk stockings.

Some will fall in love. There will be tiffs and a few fights, as there always are between friends. Cocktails, cigarettes, and chewing gum will become hot commodities. Milk bars and dry cleaners will become the rage. During their deployment in New Zealand these men and women will be welcomed into Kiwi homes, churches, public establishments, maraes, farms, and, best and most important of all, Kiwi hearts.

A party for several Marines hosted by the Lipshams of Manurewa, one of the many New Zealand families who opened their homes to U.S. service personnel.

A booklet entitled Meet New Zealand,  produced by the Historical Branch of the New Zealand Department of Internal Affairs in September 1942 for United States servicemen stationed here, very presciently says:

“Welcome! When we say it we mean it. Those of us who have met Americans before have liked them (or most of them), and we hope you Americans will like us (or most of us).”

I think this really says it all. Friendships are always initially forged in uncertainty. While Americans and New Zealanders occasionally met and liked each other (or sometimes not) before 1942, this large-scale cultural exchange wrought an indelible change in the relationship. In 1945 when the majority of U.S. service personnel had departed these shores, neither the departees nor those remaining were the same as before.

American Servicemen enjoying a dance at the Majestic Cabaret in Wellington.

We knew each other better. Mostly, we liked each other. A lot. We’d shared a common experience and through it found we were very much alike in all the ways that matter. We’d taught each other things. Shared cultures, ideas, drinks.  Out of these common experiences grew a bond which we still share today … a bond which has survived its share of bumps in the road, a true test of its strength.

*   *   *

Laura, thank you for taking the time to share your thoughts about 1942 and its important place in our shared history.

At 7:55 a.m. on a quiet Sunday morning 70 years ago today, waves of more than 350 hostile fighter, bomber, and torpedo planes darkened the dawn skies over Oahu in a surprise attack designed to cripple America’s defenses and advance a rival power’s aggressive expansion through the Pacific. No declaration of war had been issued.

The first seconds of the attack on Pearl Harbor, recorded from an enemy fighter.

On the rise and in need of resources to advance its regional objectives, Japan had already invaded Manchuria, China, and French Indochina. It was starting to push into Malaya and the Dutch East Indies to insure control of supplies of oil, minerals, and other resources needed to fuel its ongoing development.

Tokyo mistakenly believed that the United States would declare war when Japan launched its long-planned invasion of Great Britain’s Southeast Asian colonies. The preemptive attack by a Japanese aircraft carrier strike force on Pearl Harbor, home of the US Pacific fleet, was intended to cripple America’s ability to defend its Pacific neighbors.

USS Shaw explodes after being struck at the start of the attack.

While Pearl Harbor was burning, Japanese military forces attacked simultaneously in multiple other locations across the Pacific region.

Guam, Wake Island, Manila, and Singapore were bombed. Malaya, Thailand, and the Philippines were invaded. Shanghai was seized. The same day. Japanese troops pushed toward Hong Kong and Burma.

USS Arizona sinks in Pearl Harbor, taking 1,177 young Americans to their deaths.

In Pearl Harbor that day 2,402 Americans were killed and 1,247 were wounded. On American soil. While the nation was at peace. Eighteen American ships and approximately 340 American aircraft were destroyed or severely damaged.

In Washington, Japanese envoys arrived at the State Department after the attack had begun, to deliver a document from Tokyo criticizing the United States for not accommodating Japan’s demands in ongoing bilateral discussions. A declaration of war by Japan was not delivered until the next day.

USS California sinks in Pearl Harbor.

The morning of December 8th, President Franklin Delano Roosevelt addressed an emergency joint session of the American Congress, beginning with one of the most iconic sentences uttered in American history: “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 address was broadcast live by radio to the American people. Twenty-one minutes after President Roosevelt finished speaking, the Senate voted 82-0 to declare war on Japan. Twelve minutes later, the House of Representatives concurred by a vote of 388-1. (The lone dissenting vote was cast by Republican Jeannette Rankin of Montana.)

President Roosevelt addresses a joint session of Congress on December 8th.

A strong streak of isolationism has always run through the American psyche, including as war raged elsewhere during 1940 and 1941. The America First Committee and other non-interventionist groups remained strong despite growing anxiety over the hegemonic waves sweeping Europe and East Asia. The Roosevelt Administration had begun taking economic steps to aid beseiged Britain and the Republic of China, but strong majorities of the population and elected officials still opposed entering foreign wars.

The attack on Pearl Harbor changed all that. Americans were shocked — forever, I would argue — out of our belief that the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans provide a safe buffer from the troubles and ills of the rest of the world. In a way that few other events have, Pearl Harbor altered the course of American thinking, history, society, and politics.

US Marines lower our Embassy flag today to mark the 70th anniversary.

Many of our friends have already started commemorating the 70th anniversaries of the terrible events of that era that shattered their societies and changed their worlds.

We join the procession today, with the lowering of flags at our Embassies, Government offices, and other facilities worldwide, to honor and remember those killed on December 7, 1941.

In the coming months and years we will solemnly mark the many other 70th anniversaries arising from the events of World War II.

Here at US Mission New Zealand, we will focus on the joint service, shared sacrifice, and common values that bound Kiwis and Americans so tightly together during the War, and which still provide the bedrock on which our relationship stands today.

I look forward to talking in future posts about our plans to commemorate the June 1942 arrival of US Army and Navy forces in Auckland and the landing of US Marines in Wellington.

Today, though, is about remembering Pearl Harbor, honoring those killed that Sunday, revisiting the lasting lessons learned, and drawing strength from how friends pulled together and persisted through even the darkest of days.