On December 7, 1941 Japanese soldiers bombarded a Naval base on the territory of Pearl Harbor in Hawaii. This event caused the death of many soldiers and eventually to the United States formal entry into WWII. What has become a historic event in the lives of many Americans the movie has portrayed it to be a love story event.
This event has been an event that many directors have found interesting enough to make films, movies, and documentaries on. There have been many articles that evolved due to the extreme nature of it, as well as books and articles. Many would consider the most famous piece of art that derived from this tragic event to be the movie directed by Michael Bay “Pearl Harbor”. This Drama/Action movie was produced in 2001 running 3 hours and 4 minutes. I think it is hard to actually tell all events in that amount of time. The actual attack started at 7:53 am and ended at 9:55 am it came in two different waves. With this paper I will be explaining different inaccuracies that have been told in the movie and how they actually happened during the attack.
In between all the terror and attack a young man went from kitchen duty to war hero. This event caused many people to raise up to the occasion and fight with all their might. Doris Miller was a war hero. He helped African Americans to be allowed to serve in combat roles while serving in the military.
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There has been a great miss accuracy of the timeline of events. Kimmel was notified at a different time frame than what the movie shows. The hospital attacks did not happen the way the movie showed them. The roles of women were a different in real life. Although Doris Miller story is probably one of the most famous stories that derived from this event, the way that the movie showed it had some inaccuracies. The radio as well as machinery was also inaccurate.
Commander Kimmel according to the movie was made aware of the attack while it was in progress but in reality, he was aware of the attack until the bombs had already started landing in Hawaii. Admiral Kimmel did not receive official notification of the attack until it had ended. Because of his actions before the attack he was the scapegoat. He was blammed for the attack and how he was not prepared for it. The Roberts Commision was appointed to investigate the attack, their finding concluded that because of General Short and Admiral Kimmel judgement there was significant loss. During the movie you can see when the attack is being planned and how Kimmel is being presented as negligent. During the attack the men and women
During the movie the base hospitals are attacked specifically, we assume it was in order for the base to not be able to render treatment. However, the hospitals were never really a target. Instead they were just collateral damage people would say. In reality the hospital was slightly damaged. From the Naval Hospital Pearl Harbor only one person lost his life and that was while on liberty. In fact, the Navy Hospital Pearl Harbor was used a temporary morgue. The deceased were transported there for identification and burial purposes. Navy medical personal were honored for their heroic actions.
The women who served the military were great nurses, but in fact women at that time were not only nurses. In Pearl Harbor, women were mechanics and technical workers. Most importantly more than 10,000 women worked as codebreakers in Pearl Harbor. After the real Pearl Harbor attack women even took on the role to salvage sunken ships. A lot of them took on the roles of the men while men went overseas for war.
During and after the attack men and women from all over Pearl Harbor had the courage to fight for their country when they felt defeated. One man in my opinion has one of the most inspiring story Doris Miller. Doris Miller was a man that lived the concept of from ‘rags to riches’ in a way. He went from being a cook to becoming a war hero, However, the movie shows him with a white nurse tending to his injuries. This would not have happened since hospitals were segregated during that time. Thanks to his heroic action he helped bring down planes during the attack.
Miller saves hundreds thanks to his bravery. On this day he arrived at 6 am to start preparing breakfast for the service men, little did he know that in a couple of hours his life would forever change. While the attack was going on and him saving hundreds of men, he was ordered to escort Captain Mervyn Bennion off the ship, Capt. Bennion would die from his wounds before he left the ship. Miller loaded a 50-caliber Browning anti-aircraft machine gun and started firing away with no previous experience with these guns. Thanks to him the Navy took steps into allowing African American to serve in combat roles.
Another misconception that is in the movie is the ‘Queen Mary’. “Queen Mary’ was a ship that in the movie was colorful, when in reality the ships were purposely painted grey in order to camouflage. The RMS Queen Mary was a voyager ship that would carry passengers. During war times this luxurious ship became the home of 15,000 crew members. She carried cannons as well as antiaircraft rocket launchers. She was a Queen transformed into a war machine.
The radios that were used in the movie seem to have been too effective when in reality they did not reach high range periods. The guns that they used were guns that did not make their appearance until after the attack. Also, the Jeep that was used in the movie did not make its debut until the 1950’s. There was also a nuclear power submarine used in the movie. Even the leather jackets that the men wore were not made in that era, and they were manufactured in Japan. Would they have been wearing Japanese clothing after being attacked by Japan? I don’t think so. One of the events that the movie did get correct was the swing dancing.
There are misinterpretations from the attack that are based on the movie. Some of the more significant ones are the roles of women during the war, segregation, the technology that was used, and the attack itself. These historical errors have been the center of many research papers as well as many articles. People have mentioned that with all of the money that the producer used for the movie, they should have used some of that money to hire an expert. Many men and women sacrificed their lives for our country when it was needed the most. When one bases our knowledge on a movie it is more than likely to have some historically errors. The attack on Pearl Harbor was a historic event that left many wounded and dead, this attack was more than a love story.
References
- Edwards, J. (2018, February 08). Korea: Marine Manned Machinegun Alone – Found Dead Next Morning With Over 200 Dead Enemies Around Him. Retrieved from
- https://www.warhistoryonline.com/korean-war/marine-manned-machinegun-alone.html
- 12 things you (probably) didn’t know about Pearl Harbor. (2018, December 06). Retrieved from https://www.historyextra.com/period/second-world-war/pearl-harbor-facts-date-live-infamy-franklin-roosevelt-japan-surprise-attack-americans/
- Vkremer. (n.d.). Navy Medicine at Pearl Harbor (Dec. 7, 1941). Retrieved from http://navymedicine.navylive.dodlive.mil/archives/3809
- American Soldiers Were Actually Way More Heroic Than As Depicted In ‘Pearl Harbor’. (n.d.). Retrieved from https://www.ranker.com/list/everything-the-pearl-harbor-movie-got-wrong/genevieve-carlton
- Women of the War. (2017, February 28). Retrieved from https://visitpearlharbor.org/women-of-the-war/
- Remember Pearl Harbor: The Men and the Guns. (n.d.). Retrieved from https://www.americanrifleman.org/articles/2016/12/7/remember-pearl-harbor-the-men-and-the-guns/
