When the air raid alarm sounded around 7:55 a.m. on December 7, 1941,
Gunner's Mate Second Class James Allard Vessels of Paducah was preparing
to participate in morning colors aboard the USS Arizona. In the
scramble for battle stations, Vessels quickly climbed to a machine gun
platform high atop the mainmast as others descended below decks to help
pass ammunition up to gunners. At 8:06, a bomb exploded and the
Arizona sank. Vessels's lofty perch saved his life, but most of his
shipmates were not so lucky.
In Kentuckians and Pearl Harbor, Berry Craig employs an impressive
array of newspapers, unpublished memoirs, oral histories, and official
military records to offer a ground-up look at the day that Franklin D.
Roosevelt said would "live in infamy," and its aftermath in the
Bluegrass State. In a series of vignettes, Craig uncovers the untold,
forgotten, or little-known stories of ordinary people -- military and
civilian -- on the most extraordinary day of their lives. Craig
concludes by exploring the home front reaction to this pivotal event in
American history.
Japan's surprise attack on Pearl Harbor swept away any illusions
Kentuckians had about being able to stay out of World War II. From
Paducah to Pikeville, people sprang to action. Their voices emerge and
come back to life in this engaging and timely history.
