With the attack that Sunday morning on Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam in Hawaii, the war came home.  Seattle was the closest large city to the attack.  Naval Air Station Seattle at Sandpoint, was one of only two on the west coast and it was the administrative headquarters for the 13th Naval Division, (now in Bremerton), that included the NW and Alaska.^[3]

Other important military bases were close by.  Seattleites knew war planes were being made at Boeing and ships in Bremerton.  We were close and we were a target.  This was the first time the U.S. had been directly attacked by a foreign government and even isolationists realized war had come.  Lindbergh, an aviation hero who opposed the war said on that day, “We must face war united.” ^[4]

Back to that fateful Sunday morning.  What was it like then?  There were no immediate pictures, with no TV.  The radio, telephone or word of mouth was how the word spread.   Lt. J.C. Picken Jr., communications officer at Naval Air Station Seattle at Sand Point just north of the City line on N.E. 65^th Street was on duty that Sunday morning.  “I’ll never forget,” he said.  “We received a communication. ‘Pearl Harbor has been attacked.  This is not a drill.’”  “I called the Seattle radio stations to broadcast the announcement that Pearl Harbor had been bombed and for all wing personnel to report back to the air station immediately.  We soon were flooded with telephone calls from persons who had heard the news on the radio and doubted their own ears.  We mounted all available machine guns on the roofs of buildings.  Public works immediately began spraying the windows for a blackout that night.  We received all kinds of rumors about submarines coming up the mouth of the Columbia River and operating off the coast.”

“Marines were posted on guard along the field and sentries were ordered to shoot to kill if proper identification was not given.  All officers were ordered to remain on the station.  They lived at the bachelor officer’s quarters for several days until we knew more about the situation in the Pacific.  A complete blackout was put into effect.”^[5]  Radio broadcasts stopped at 7 pm so their signals could not be tracked by the enemy. ^[6] My neighbor, Gale Arena, on N.E. 60^th Street remembers Navy trucks patrolling the street in front of her home as her children watched planes landing and taking off at the base from their bedroom windows.  An usher at a downtown movie theatre Sunday pulled military men from the matinee to report to duty at Sand Point or Ft. Lewis.  Highway 99 was full of sailors and soldiers heading both directions to report to duty.  All non military planes were immediately grounded as they were during 9/11.  The Coast Guard posted guards at both ends of the locks to inspect all suspicious ships.^[7]

People were frightened.  They did not know what to expect.  There were no satellites circling above to send positions of enemy ships.  There were no supersonic “spy” planes to track troop movements.  The Navy, concerned about submarines and the safety of workers going to the Bremerton Ship Yards, ordered ferries to have marksmen onboard to fire every 10 seconds into the water to explode potential mines.  Soon submarine chain curtains were hung across narrow passages like Rich Passage.^[8]  Ron Nese, retired UW professor, remembers being on a ferry as it was stopped so the curtain could be opened.  A teenager at the time he was proud to serve as a volunteer runner in case of a breakdown of regular communications.  Prior to the attack, Seattle had a system of 6300 volunteer air raid wardens who enforced the blackout, had gas masks, and sand bags to help put out fires expected from incendiary bombs.  Volunteer lookouts were called into action that day to scan the skies for enemy planes.   It was thought small planes might be launched from submarines. Police Chief Rod Murphy said, “an aerial attack here is not only possible it is probable.”^[9] After the war, Japanese records showed that small planes indeed did launch from subs and were flown over Seattle but not San Francisco where planes were reported.^[10]  The Washington State Defense Council, operating out of the Armory, now the Center House at the Seattle Center, also expected that the forests would be set ablaze.^[11] 

Headlines on December 8^th read: Blackout Tonight! War Declared by US! Manila Bombed Twice! Seattle on War Basis! Closest to Hostile Shores!^[12]  President Roosevelt declared war on Japan that day.  As well as fear, Seattleites reacted with patriotism.  Women had already formed knitting groups to knit sweaters and socks for soldiers.^[13]  On December 8^th, lines of men stretched around the block of the Navy and Marine recruiting center to sign up to serve their country.  The blackout was extended from the Canadian to the Mexican border along the west coast.  Mayor Milliken urged tolerance toward American-born Japanese and Police Chief Kimsey also appealed for tolerance “announced patrols guarding the Japanese quarter, and said any attempt to stir up anti-Japanese riots would be ‘crushed with force.’” The riots Monday night downtown focused on smashing windows of businesses that still had some light on during the blackout.  Roundly condemned as hooligans by all, calm prevailed the next day.^[14]

That day, December 9^th, thirty-four Japanese ships were reported to be off the California coast.  Had this been true, the military men knew better than the layman how limited our defenses were against air attack.  Only forty-five fighter planes were available to defend 1,200 miles of coast, ten heavy bombers and seventy-five medium bombers whose short range cut down on their usefulness against the type of attack expected. Crews of both fighters and bombers were handicapped by an acute shortage of ammunition.^[15]

Reports from early December 1941 show that the Army was considering evacuating their officer’s families to the Midwest.^[16]  Family stories tell of my grandmother urging my father to move his young family further inland because of the invasion fear.  Fortunately this action was not needed and large scale bombing or an invasion did not occur.  The years that followed the war swelled the ranks of those living in Seattle and working in war related industries or servicing on Navy and Army bases, bringing growth and prosperity to our city.  However on that day, December 7, 1941 no one knew what to expect and Seattleites responded with fear, resolve, and patriotism.

Then the communications command for the Pacific front, Naval Air Station Seattle, seventy years later is a Seattle park, a gift from the Navy to the people of Seattle.  Within the last year it has become a City of Seattle Landmark Historic District as well as a National Listed Historic District, a national treasure.  Buildings that once housed land and sea planes now hold Library Book Sales and soccer kids.  The Torpedo Shop is becoming offices and a restaurant.  The Administrative command center is now a Pediatric Dental Clinic after the miles of old phone lines were removed from the basement.  This repurposing of buildings is good, but remembering history is important too.

The flag in front of the old Administrative building at Naval Air Station Seattle at Sandpoint will fly at half staff on December 7^th, Pearl Harbor Day, in honor of the men who died for their country as it did on 9/11, Patriot’s Day.  The number of Seattleites who remember what it felt like on Pearl Harbor Day is dwindling.  It is, however, important for all of us to remember the history of the day and celebrate and honor our past.