December 7, 1941 Newspaper Review
...y reports receiving Japanese landing on Lubang Island. “TURN BACK TO SEA; Two Formations Neared City on Radio Beams; Then Went Astray; ALARM IS WIDESPREAD; Whole Coast Has a Nervous Night—Many Cities Blacked Out,” written by Lawrence E. Davies, is one column that is found on the far left side of the paper, starting at the top and continuing all the way down. He wrote about an enemy aircraft formation that flew over the San Francisco Bay area. Sirens went off but broadcasting was silenced because of false announcements. These planes flew in towards San Francisco then decided to turn around and head back to sea. They say this happened because the planes were following radio signals and because of the black out they didn’t know what their position was. The American planes were not sent up because “you don’t send planes up unless you know what the enemy is doing and where he is going and you don’t send planes up in the dark unless you know what you are doing.” “1 BATTLESHIP LOST; Capsized in Pearl Harbor, Destroyer Is Blown Up, Other Ships Hurt; FLEET NOW IS FIGHTING; Aid Rushed to Hawaii—Some Congressmen Sharply Critical,” is the third article from left, it is one column wide and only goes 1/3 of the way down the page. It is written by Charles Hurd and says that the Battle of the Pacific spread over a 5,000-mile span from Hawaii to the Philippines. Even though the United States was beaten severely they still fought back by launching the sea and air forces. The White House announced officially that the attack on the Island of Oaha was the cause of 3,000 casualties. It also goes on to explain that there was an “old battleship” that was capsized, a destroyer had exploded and several others were attacked. “UNITY IN CONGRESS; Only One Negative Vote as President Calls to War and Victory; ROUNDS OF CHEERS; Miss Rankin’s Is Sole ‘No’ as Both Houses Act in Quick Time,” is one column wide, on the far right and goes almost the entire way down the page. As Frank L. Kluckhohn writes that the United States formally declared war on Japan with only one Congress member objecting after only 33 minutes of deliberation. He explains that Roosevelt’s 6 minute and 30 second speech, compared to Woodrow Wilson’s 29 min and 34 second speech to declare war, was approved. “PLANES GUARD CITY FROM AIR ATTACKS; Army Interceptors Join the Navy Patrols—Anti-Aircraft Apparatus Set Up Here,” is one column wide, the second column from the left and in the middle. As long lines of men were formed to enter the Army, Navy and Marine Corps recruiting offices, New York City is getting ready for war. Aircrafts are taking off and aircraft spotters are being scattered through thirteen eastern coastal States and the District of Columbia. They decided on having a siren go off if there is any type of attack with alternating long and short blasts, the all-clear signal is given with a series of short blasts. “MALAYA THWARTS PUSH BY JAPANESE; Thailand Capitulates and Is Seen Virtually In Axis—Two Raids on Singapore,” this article is also one column wide, the third column from the right and in the middle. This column is given very little space. Tillman Durdin begins saying that in the first eighteen hours of attack, the Japanese have forced Thailand to capitulate, but do not seem to have achieved any real success. There was an air raid on Singapore and Pral (Penang) and the damage was said to be slight. “LARGE U.S. LOSSES CLAIMED BY JAPAN; Tokyo Lists 2 Battleships, 1 Mine-Sweeper Sunk, 4 Capital Ships, 4 Cruisers Damaged,” is located under the picture on the left, it’s one column wide and proceeds to the bottom of the paper. The Official Broadcasts, Distributed by The Associated Press, explains Japanese Imperial Headquarters announcement about the sinking of two United States battleships and a mine-sweeper, severe damage to four other American capital ships and four cruisers and the destruction of about 100 planes. This was said to have given Japan naval mastery over the United States in the Pacific. They believed there was no way of us coming back and winning because of our significant lose and their lose of nothing. “The International Situation,” which is two columns wide and has a larger, bolder heading in the bottom, center of the paper. This section of the paper is basically a summarization of the entire paper. It gives reference to where the information can be found in the paper. There really is no important significance t...