Banner Painting: December 7th will always have a special reverence in my memory. It stems partly from my uncles, one who served on the USS Lexington during the Battle of the Coral Sea, one who fought at Iwo Jima and the other who died in New Guinea (the only one of 6 brothers to serve during WWII who was drafted) and partly from my visit to Japan in the mid-2000s, where I was able to stop by the art museum next to the Imperial Palace in Tokyo. While viewing the pieces, I notice a painting of the attack on Pearl Harbor depicting the Japanese planes flying over the island toward the harbor. As I looked closer, I noticed something out of place – well, out of place to us in the US who grew up with Franklin Roosevelt’s historic radio address of “December 7th, 1941 a date that will live in infamy” — the little bronze title placard stated December 8, 1941. Same event. Different dates. Different perspectives.

Winner of 2019 Charles S. Roberts Award for Best Historical Article.