What happened to the people who started and fought the Pearl Harbor attack? Some met their end in different battles; others, like Tojo, were tried and hung. Still others survived and lived long lives. Let’s look at a few examples.
- Isoruku Yamamoto. By 1943, Americans were intercepting many Japanese secret transmissions. One year to the day after Jimmy Doolittle and his Tokyo Raiders made their daring attack on Japan’s home islands, Yamamoto was scheduled to land at Ballale Airfield in the Solomon Islands. He was there to boost the morale of Guadalcanal battle troops who were on Bougainville Island, just north of the airfield. Yamamoto’s trip was explicitly detailed in an intercepted message. P-38 Lightnings from Henderson Field, fitted with auxiliary tanks, located Yamamoto’s plane and shot it down at Buin (the southern part of Bougainville). Japan’s Harvard-educated, former military attache and brilliant military strategist was dead - with no one to replace him. Today, his wrecked G4M Betty is located in the jungle near Moila Point.
- Dorie Miller. Although he continued to serve at Pearl Harbor for a time, the national hero of the USS West Virginia was an even bigger hero for African-Americans. People started a letter-writing campaign to FDR to send Dorie to the Naval Academy. Instead of going to the Academy, Dorie was transferred to the Liscome Bay (CVE-56). On November 24, 1943, Miller’s ship was torpedoed by a Japanese sub during the invasion of the Gilbert Islands. Dorie died in that battle. Later, in 1973, the United States Navy named the USS Miller (DE 1091) in his honor. The ship’s emblem was based on Miller’s traits: "Courage - Devotion."
- Jimmy Doolittle. After his successful, morale-building Tokyo Raid, Doolittle was a hero. He was the subject of many World War II posters. Everyone thought Doolittle would be promoted to 4-star General at the first opportunity. He eventually was - but not until long after he retired from the United States Air Force. In addition to untold honors conferred on him, he earned a doctorate. Doolittle lived a long life and was buried, at age 97, a hero in Arlington National Cemetery.
- USS Hornet. (CV-8) that carried Doolittle and his Tokyo Raiders was attacked and sank at the Battle of Santa Cruz, on October 26, 1942. Another ship, also named the USS Hornet (CV-12), took part in a different momentous American event. She was the primary recovery ship for Apollo 11, the moon landing mission. Today she is a National Historical Landmark, berthed at Alameda Point in San Francisco Bay.
- Pearl Harbor Ships. Although the Arizona, with about 900 of her dead sailors still on board, was never raised again she was salvaged to some extent. So was the Oklahoma, although she was never returned to service and eventually sank. Other ships, however, were raised, repaired and restored. With the Navy Yard undamaged, ships like the Nevada were returned to battle.
After the war, the United States and Japan renewed their relationship of cooperation. To this day, however, people around the world have not forgotten the adage that was coined soon after the attack.
They still "Remember Pearl Harbor."
