 Greetings from the National Archives' flagship building in Washington, D.C., which sits on the ancestral lands of the Nacotchtank peoples. I'm David Ferriero, Archivist of the United States, and it's my pleasure to welcome you to today's screening of December 7th, presented in commemoration of the 80th anniversary of the attack on Pearl Harbor in the United States' entry into the Second World War. This screening is presented with our National Archives motion picture preservation staff, and the film today will be introduced by Audrey Amidon from that staff. Before we begin, I'd like to tell you about two programs coming up soon on our YouTube channel. On Wednesday, December 8th, at 1 p.m., Bruce A. Ragsdale will tell us about his new book, Washington at the Plough, which takes a fresh, original look at George Washington as an innovative land manager whose passion for farming would unexpectedly lead him to reject slavery. And on Thursday, December 9th, at 7 p.m., join us as Supreme Court Justice Stephen Breyer discusses his recently published book, The Authority of the Court and the Paral of Politics. Following the conversation with Justice Breyer, a panel of experts will respond and debate the central argument of his new text and other challenges facing the nation and the court. 80 years ago today, a surprise attack on the U.S. Pacific Fleet at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, left the fleet in ruins and killed more than 2,400 Americans. The next day, the United States declared war on Japan and became an active participant in the Second World War. The attack on Pearl Harbor on December 7th, 1941 is well documented in the holdings of the National Archives. Photographs documenting the aftermath of the attack may be found in the general photographic file of the Navy, color photographs of signal core activity, and photographs of American military operations. Our cartographic unit holds maps and aerial photographs depicting Pearl Harbor, as well as plans for ships that were present on December 7th, 1941. Among our textual records, logbooks of U.S. Navy ships give firsthand accounts of that Sunday morning. A Navy radiogram sent on December 7th, 12 ships in the Hawaiian area, declares this is no drill, and Navy dispatches announced the attack to the U.S. mainland. Because the bombing of Pearl Harbor was a surprise, there was very little American motion picture footage of the attack itself. As you will learn today, the vast majority of the footage in December 7th was recreated. The film December 7th was created by Director John Ford's Field Photographic Unit and released by the U.S. Navy in 1943. The 20-minute film won the Academy Award in 1944 for Best Documentary Short Subject. Today's screening will show this award-winning film, as well as Daitoe News, a captured Japanese newsreel that chronicles the attack from their perspective. To set the context of these films from our holdings, we'll hear from Audrey Amidon, a motion picture preservation specialist here at the National Archives. Audrey Amidon has worked in the National Archives Motion Picture Preservation Lab since 2006. In the lab, she and her colleagues preserve and make accessible the motion picture holdings of the National Archives, including the films you will be seeing today. In 2005, Audrey completed an MA in film studies and film archiving at the University of East Anglia in Norwich, England. She writes about the work of the lab and shares stories about our film holdings on NARA's unwritten record blog. Now, let's hear from Audrey Amidon in C. December 7th. Thank you for joining us today. In my work in the National Archives Motion Picture Preservation Lab, I'm fortunate to spend a lot of time with our nation's film records. Whether I'm winding through a film and repairing broken perforations or watching closely for digital artifacts while scanning films for access, I learn new things about our history every single day. One thing I always ask myself is, why was this film made? Because that tells me something new about what our government was doing behind the story we all know. We can find illuminating answers to this question in the government films made after the attack on Pearl Harbor. While we pause today to honor those who died when Japanese planes attacked on December 7th, 1941, we may focus on the factual account of the attack. The lives lost, the ships sunk, the planes shot down. However, there is another history of what Pearl Harbor came to mean. After the smoke had dissipated and the dead had been counted, there was a secondary battle over the narrative. Both the United States and Japan used the events to rally their citizens and influence public sentiment about the new war front. Today's screening features two examples of wartime propaganda films about Pearl Harbor. The first is the Slicker American production, December 7th, made for domestic audiences. The second, Daitoan News Number One, is a Japanese newsreel that was clearly made for English-speaking audiences in the Philippines and possibly other countries occupied by Japan during the war. While the Japanese newsreel would have been compiled and distributed soon after the attack on Pearl Harbor, the American documentary December 7th took more than a year to produce. The film had an impressive pedigree from the start with Oscar-winning cinematographer Greg Toland assigned to direct. When the war began, Toland was a member of John Ford's Navy Field Photo Unit. John Ford, of course, directed more than 100 films over 50 years, including some of the best-known classics of the Golden Age of Hollywood. Greg Toland was responsible for the distinctive look of films like Orson Welles, Citizen Kane and John Ford's The Graves of Wrath. And he's still remembered as one of the greatest American cinematographers in our film history. December 7th was his first and only project as director. Toland brought his considerable skills with the camera to December 7th, although not much of what he shot ended up in the final picture. The internet will tell you that what we're showing you today is the censored version, but that's not really true. Toland's 85-minute version was just dreadful. In Toland's version of the film, we see long sequences of Uncle Sam, played by Walter Houston, being admonished by a personified conscience, played by character actor Harry Davenport, for vacationing too much and not taking seriously the threat of the quote-unquote hyphenated Japanese Americans. In Toland's film, every single American with Japanese ancestry was a potential spy, including children. Certainly, with the issuance of Executive Order 9066, just two months after the attack and the resulting incarceration of more than 100,000 Japanese Americans, official government policy agreed with Toland's message. The assignment for the filmmaker, however, was to unify the American public against an enemy nation, not to justify the imprisonment of our own citizens. Everyone who saw Toland's version of December 7th was alarmed. John Ford, who was ultimately responsible for Toland, went to work recutting the film and removed nearly an hour of footage. Gone were all the bizarre dream-like sequences where Uncle Sam was chastised by his conscience and the extended scene at the end showing the ghost of an American soldier strolling through a military cemetery and relating an unwieldy baseball metaphor to demonstrate his belief in the American cause. The final film is a more straightforward account, including both real and staged footage of the attack and the aftermath. Remaining and more prominent in the shorter film is a segment countering the triumphant Japanese narrative of Pearl Harbor and refuting the supposed claims of Prime Minister Tojo. While the film uses an actor performing with a bad Japanese accent, Daito in news number one does include a graphic proudly claiming twice the actual American losses. Correcting the record is a significant part of the shorter, final version of December 7th. Also included is a sequence narrated by The Voice of the Dead, featuring the families of a multiracial group of sailors. The message here is that they are all the same voice because as Americans they are all essentially the same. In Tolan's version, that message was buried in the repeated, drawn out scenes casting suspicion and blame on Japanese Americans. Influencing how the public felt about Pearl Harbor and the war in general was an important part of the war effort. While Greg Tolan's version was beautifully shot and included all of the elements of the final film, John Ford's editing choices pulled out the more positive and hopeful elements and focused on strength, recovery, and the human spirit. December 7th was finally released in 1943 and won the 1944 Academy Award for Best Documentary Short. War and Navy departments present December 7th. Early Sunday morning on the island of Oahu, safe and secure behind its military and naval ramparts, the city of Honolulu, like many another unsuspecting American community, was also asleep. At all the Army and Navy establishments on the island, after repeated warnings from the war and Navy departments, a number one alert had secretly been in effect for 11 days. This alert provided suitable defense against possible acts of sabotage and uprisings within the island itself, but made no provision against attack or invasion. At Hickam Field, the Army's bomber base, precautions were taken to safeguard the equipment against sabotage. Hence on this Sunday morning, the planes were concentrated in hangars or lined up row by row on the open field. Immediately adjacent to Hickam Field is Pearl Harbor. Here on this morning of a tragic day of reckoning, capital ships, heavy and light cruisers lay at anchor. At anchor two lay several destroyers, tenders, minesweepers and repair ships, 86 vessels in all. By seven of them to stir. For the most part, the atmosphere was serene and quiet. At Coniore, a field mass was being held. Shipmates, today is the third Sunday of Advent, the 7th of December, which means that Christmas is not far ahead. I don't have to remind you fellows that the old earling is about to shove off, carrying Christmas gifts and letters to the home side. Why not buy them a few presents? You might get them a mother of Pekaki Lay or a little sister of Who's skirt. I think they'd rather have something for little Johnny out here in Hawaii. It was 7.50 a.m. by the clock on the Aloha Tower when the drone of planes was faintly heard. Out of the misty Pacific skies, like tiny locusts, they swarmed in from the sea. Past Diamond Head and over Waikiki Beach, the treachery of an empire was on the wing. Planned for months with a brilliant coming, favored by our lack of readiness with the sky and sea all their own, at 7.55 a.m. hell broke loose. Man-made hell, made in Japan. And 50 minutes of perfidy. The last wave of the invaders was beaten off, about 200 strong, only about 150 when they departed. They left about 50 of their planes. Most of them were scattered on the airfields in charred, twisted and mangled wreckage. A few had crashed into the sea and were washed up on the shore. Yes, this, as indeed the whole diabolical plan of the attack, was conceived and aimed toward achieving one objective and one objective only. To catch us off guard, smash our fleet, cripple our standing as a sea power and put us out of business. In this it failed, but tragic and terrible was the scene of destruction. Heart-breaking, the sight of ships built to fight and die proudly, now left burning in shallow graves. Always, said President Roosevelt, always will our whole nation remember the character of the onslaught against us. A record for all history to read in amazement, in sorrow, in horror and disgust. Those also were President Roosevelt's words. Horror and disgust, amazement and sorrow, sorrow, yes, bitter, grievous, mortifying sorrow. For on this Sabbath day, 2,343 officers and enlisted men of our army, Navy and Marine Corps, gave their young lives in the service of our country. Who were these young Americans? Let us pause for a few minutes at their hallowed graves and ask a few of them to make themselves known. Who are you boys? Come on, speak up some of you. I am Robert R. Kelly, United States Army. I came from Finlay, Ohio. My parents are Mr. and Mrs. James E. Kelly. I am Alfred Aaron Rosenthal, United States Navy. I lived in Brooklyn, New York. My parents are Mr. and Mrs. Henry L. Rosenthal. I am Theodore Stephen Zabel, United States Marine Corps. My hometown is Castelia, Iowa. Those are my parents, Mr. and Mrs. Stephen Zabel. I am Moses Anderson Allen, United States Navy. I lived on a farm in Cove, North Carolina. My mother is Mrs. Annie Allen. I am James Webster Leight, United States Navy. I'm from Huntington Park, California. My folks are Mr. and Mrs. William J. Leight. I am Antonio S. Tafoya, United States Army. I live just outside of Albuquerque, New Mexico. My father and mother are Mr. and Mrs. Jesus A. Tafoya. How does it happen that all of you sound and talk alike? We are all alike. We are all Americans. Snuggers hockey. Cowboy. Otaro. His Excellency, Premier General, Head Secretary, Tojo, will report to the nation. For many years, the democracy of the United States has threatened to enslave the life of our peace-loving nation. That threat has now effectively been disposed of. I held the honor to report that our banners have struck an annihilating blow at the United States. The power. Almost immediately the crowing began. Let's listen to the facts. The battleship Arizona sunk and lost. Regrettably, that's correct, Mr. Tojo. The aircraft carrier Enterprise cut flies and lost. Incorrect. That's the old target ship Utah. The battleship Oklahoma capsized and lost. Capsized but not lost. Plans are underway for writing her. The battleship California, Nevada, and West Virginia, finally damaged beyond repair. Temporarily damaged, but just a minute, Mr. Tojo, before you go any further with your facts, meet Captain H. N. Walden of our Navy. He is the Bureau of Ships expert on salvage and repair. Together with hundreds of civilian technicians, machinists, welders, mechanics, engineers, many of whom were recruited from the mainland and working in complete harmony with Navy personnel, he began a 24-hour, around-the-clock job of salvage and repair that will stand forever as one of the great achievements in maritime history. Above and below the water's surface, this epic of masterful engineering went on. Captain Walden has proved you a mighty tall storyteller, Mr. Tojo. He calls your facts by a rich Navy word, scuttlebutt. And from the very moment the attack was over, he set out to scuttle your kind of scuttlebutt. The 23-year-old California, known affectionately to our blue jackets as the prune barge, with her ugly wounds temporarily bound, was refloated and towed to dry dock. Similar attention was given to the 28-year-old Nevada and the 21-year-old West Virginia. Here in dry dock, in record-breaking time, they were overhauled and improved from stem to stern, from hull to peak. Now dressed in their up-to-the-minute fighting garb and rare and to go, these mighty warriors and their proud crews stand out to sea. Godspeed. Wait a minute. Who is this saucy little gal, Captain Walden? Hi, George, it looks like this. Yes, it is. The mine layer, or glala. A 4,000-ton surprise package. Given up and reported as lost, this former Fall River Line passenger ship was rited and refloated. The ship was refloated and towed to dry dock. This former Fall River Line passenger ship was rited and refloated. Taken to dry dock, this small, dauntless craft was refitted and repaired. Now spanking new, a symbol of the fighting spirit of our men who build and man our ships. This veteran of World War I again takes up her battle station. Godspeed, old girl. Thus, war came to Hawaii, USA. The Loha Tower, once the symbol of welcome and hospitality, now stands clad in weird war paint. No longer do luxurious liners bring vacation-bent tourists to these once-happy aisles. The liners, too, have gone to war. No longer is Waikiki Beach the sun-kissed playground of the Pacific. Barbed wire has changed its face, too. Now, at twilight, the city streets are empty and deserted. Blackouts start each day promptly at dusk. Well, you may crow, Mr. Tojo. You've done a good job of stabbing in the back. You've darkened our cities. You've destroyed our property. You've spilled our blood. Our faith tells us that to all this treachery there can be but one answer, a time-honored answer. For all they that take the sword shall perish with the sword. Since America and Britain on December 8, 1941, the Nippon Navy attacked Pearl Harbor, which the United States boasted its strength as the strongest in the world. Here are many miles from far Nippon on the Pacific. Our carriers creep toward Hawaii and all preparations on board are completed. Strong wind blows at a velocity of 17 meters per second. The sea is rough and the waves are high, splashing it against the side of the ship with a soundless noise. All men on our deck and the commander of the Imperial Air Squadron deliver an address. Now, the greatest air attack in the end of the war will be carried out in a few moments. War heroes determined to respond to their country's call beyond life and death. One by one, Navy eagles pop off from the deck carrying the load of countless of the seagulls. A memorable day to be exact on the morning of Sunday, December 8. Squadrons of the Nippon bombers creep toward Hawaii and dim light. First, Nippon planes attack Wheeler Field, America's air base. For the island, Nippon planes release heavy charges. Dive bombers go into action. Enemy aircraft guns bark, but the scores are hit directly on enemy battleships and cruisers in the harbor. This shows the miserable state of American Navy which once boasted of its strongest fleet in the world. Nippon now commands the vast water to the Pacific. Her mighty warships plow the waves majestically. The greatest victory in Hawaii facilitates Nippon to carry out her operations over the wide area of the Philippines, Malaya, and Dutch East Indies. The retreat of America in Britain from East Asia is imminent. A new chapter in the history of Asia begins. Nippon flings down the gondolas to army attacks Hong Kong the base of downed bulls military action in East Asia for a century. In accordance with Bushido, Nippon demands surrender, to use the siege of Hong Kong begins. From land, sea, and air, a general offensive is launched, the artillery goes into action. Relentlessly, the Nippon attack continues as the sound of bursting shrapnel and shells reverberates throughout the doom city of Hong Kong. At the crack of dawn, the Imperial forces get ready for surprise landing. Inside the transport, brave soldiers of Nippon are counting the minutes before they can land in front of the enemy. Transport cuts through the waves and are rapidly nearing the enemy shore. Great formations, black units of the Nippon Air Force wing their way toward their goal. The mighty armada of the air is ready to blow up the island fortress. Directly below us, we can see the huge tanks for oil for the invasion of East Asia is stored. Searching for targets, playing dive bombs with a terrific speed, the Atlantic Air Force escapes a British warship dwarfed and swayed. There is no way out. There are kits, finally sealed in space. Another instrument of invasions is destroyed. As Nippon wild eagles continue to drop deadly missiles from the air, the oil tanks burst into flames, jet-black smoke rolling up high into the sky, presenting a ghastly scene. Horror for enemy pillboxes and fortresses crumble like paper before Nippon attacks. They have won again and will win again. The Nippon forces complete the occupation of entire Hong Kong, no longer able to resist the British surrender on Christmas Day, December 25, 1941. Banzai! Banzai! Nippon Banzai! In this battle, eleven thousand British soldiers are taken prisoners and numerous boy-horses war, captured by the imperial forces. Same as that officer who negotiated the terms of surrender, emerges from the building with a heavy heart. The rising sun flags are hoisted all over the city. The day of triumph and entry into Hong Kong is here. From the air, the formations of Nippon planes make their appearance. Simultaneously, along the two flying streets, the commanders-in-chief of the army and navy forces in the Hong Kong area make their formal entry followed by cracked Nippon troops. With the fall of Hong Kong, the formal space of British imperialism and anti-Nippon movement, Jambo has lost a vital organ of aggression. And instead, we will build a new base for the construction of the Greater East Asia Co-prosperity block. It means the dawn of a new era and the era of peace and happiness is here to stay for all of us. Thank you.