and military forces. i regret to tell you that very many american lives have been lost. in addition, american ships have been reported torpedoed on the high seas between san francisco and honolulu. the japanese government also launched an attack against malaia. last week, japanese forces attacked hong kong. last week, japanese forces attacked guam. last night, japanese forces attacked the philippine islands. last night, the japanese attacked weeks island. and this morning, the japanese attacked midway island. apan has therefore undertaken

surprise offensive, extending throughout the pacific area. of yesterday and today speak for themselves. the people of the united states have already formed their opinions and will understand the implications -- and well understand the implications. as commander-in-chief of the army and navy, i have directed that all measures be taken for will ourse, but always whole nation remember the character of the onslaught against us. [applause]

>> no matter how long it may nor what comes after this premeditated attack, the american people and their righteous might will win through to absolute victory. [applause] believe that i interpret the will of the congress and of the people when i assert that we will not only defend ourselves to the uttermost, but will make it very certain that this form of treachery shall never again endanger us. [applause] >> hostilities exist.

there is no blinking at the fact that our people, are territory, and our interests are in grave danger. in our armedce forces, with the unbending determination of our people, we will gain the inevitable triumph, so help us god. [applause] >> i ask that the congress declare that since the unprovoked and dastardly attack 7,japan on sunday, december has existed of war

between the united states and the japanese empire. [applause] >> congress, with overwhelming acclaim, voted the declaration of the state of war, and the president signed it three hours after this historic scene. >> december 7, 2016 marks the 75th anniversary of the japanese attack on pearl harbor. almost 2400 americans were killed in 1200 wounded, and the

surprise attack led to the u.s. entry into world war ii. next, oral history interviews from civilian and military survivors, recorded by the national park service. >> we get a lot of hard work and a lot of training. the weekends, we would get sunday or saturday off, a week ago to honolulu and go to the beach or have something to eat. >> i was 18 years old. i was thinking of only one thing. getting on board a ship and going to the beach. that was paradise. >> sometimes, during maneuvers, the sidewalk in front of our store was a sea of light. all of navy sailors in their white suits, up from the train station. >> pearl harbor was always full of american ships. next to pearl harbor, we had --

there were lots of military bases. >> we trained for divebombing, a utility escort. i was a mechanic on j24, a gremlin, then made an awful lot of noise on takeoff. .> i went to work as a mechanic i had to take care of the airplane, the crew would come out, and they would put in the airtime, and assimilate some of their activities. the communication with the infantry. lines, getting

things ready for the outposts alongside the beaches. flew, squadron i was in nearly built specially for submarine patrol duty. they were slow, but they were really sturdy. they could fly out about 12, miles, and we were looking for submarines. >> [speaking japanese] >> there was to be only one

battle at a time. we had three battle fleets at their. meaning two battle fleets would be at sea, constant practicing. the admiral had us out there training that we were going to meet the japanese fleet at sea. >> my brother said he heard booming, booming noises. he went out to the garage to look. when i went up there, we saw pearl harbor completely engulfed in flames and smoke. it was a horrible sight. e just -- we didn't know what was happening. and while we're on the garage roof, a plane flew over our head, and it was one of the japanese planes, because it had the rising sun. you could see the pilot clearly. he looked down at us. >> a marine came running down, and i remember he was holding a rifle.

he said, "you got to get out of here." i said "i have to get dressed." i ran back into the house and got dressed, and while we were rateng dressed, the runway behind us was being strafed and several shots came through the house. >> it was scary, because he realized there were no hotels, no big buildings downtown, so we could see the smoke. and it just, awful, kept getting bigger and bigger. it was spreading out, so i guess they kept bombing. it was probably after they had bombed. >> the japanese planes started to come over our house. what they had done was the worst strafing at the field. and we had a hole that we had dug, partially dug to be cesspoola.

my dad immediately said, jump in the cesspool, because if they ship the bullets, it will be ok. the bombers were diving and dropping their bombs, shooting. the word i am searching for -- it was like something hernandez. we stood on the front porch and watched, and my neighbor was standing on the far corner, and when he got shot, we all ran into the house and tried to seek shelter. >> i remember looking at the window of the back of the automobile, and i could see low-flying aircraft coming toward the car. as the airplane crossed overhead, it dropped a bomb, and the explosion, fortunately, pushed the bomb away from

the automobile. we continued our travel over to the new area. q i was puto between mattresses in the hallway to be protected from glass, flying whatever also because by explosions. from a small child's perspective, it scared me. on,e had to have the radio that was our only form of communication with what was going on outside of the guards. it told us different things that were happening. was being, o'ahu bombed by the japanese, and then they played "the star-spangled banner." i will never forget that, because my mother started to cry. and i knew at that point, when my mother was crying, that something bad was going to happen.

>> american history tv is marking the 75th anniversary of the japanese attack on pearl harbor throughout the weekend. next, we'll hear from a civilian witness. this is about 12 minutes. >> ted, on the morning of december 7, what did you plan to whatat day and after that, were you doing that day when it happened? >> i was attending the , thersity of hawaii wasing of december 7, i sleeping off the junior prom the night before.

awakened by all this thunder ous sounds that never ceased. so we went outside. from our house we cannot see pearl harbor. what we saw was just black smoke and little white puffs of bursts up in the air. we had maneuvers all the time. this one looked real serious. and so i turned on the radio and there was this -- i think we only had one or two radio stations, kgu, edwards was the announcer. i can still remember his name. he is screaming into the mike, get off the streets, take cover. we're under attack by japanese planes, and i never forget this. he says this is the real mccoy, because the whole thing was just surreal. you know, the fact, when i heard the alarms, that we were being

attacked by japanese planes, i felt like i had been hit be a piece of shrapnel. it was just total shock. other than this utter disbelief and denial. there was a tinge of, you might say, depression at the prospect that, gee, what is going to happen to anyone who was of japanese ancestry. but my overall reaction was one of anger, just consuming anger which stayed with me for the rest of the war. i might say that i was so angry that i said to myself, if i ever

come across a japanese soldier or aviator, i'm going to knock him down and beat him up and kick him in the groin. three years, almost four years later when i was out serving in burma, i did get a clans to visit a p.o.w. camp. >> i want you to tell me the story, which i know is a difficult one for you, about the time as a soldier you were turned away along with all other japanese from serving your country. can you tell us briefly about that? >> leading up to that, the rotc which responded on the morning of december 7th, that afternoon was ordered to be converted into