Pearl Harbor - Student Information Sheet
For each source, there are questions attached to help you grasp the more important ideas as you read through them. Your teacher will probably ask you to read through several of the sources.
Oral Histories
Lieutenant Ruth Erickson, NC, USN was a nurse at Naval Hospital Pearl Harbor during the attack on 7 December, 1941
- What was the reaction of the nurses and doctors upon realizing that Pearl Harbor was being attacked?
- What was the situation in the hospital at the time of the attack? What was the biggest problem that the hospital faced?
- What were some of the injuries that naval personnel received? To what extent were they serious?
- How do you think she felt about the Pearl Harbor attack?
Captain John E. Lacouture, USN was the Assistant Engineer on USS Blue (DD-387) at Pearl Harbor during the Japanese attack on 7 December 1941.
- What was life like the night before the Japanese attacked on Pearl Harbor? Did anyone suspect an attack? What evidence is there to support your view?
- Can you describe the damages inflicted on the ships as a result of the attack?
- List the sequence of events during the Japanese attack. What specifically happened to USS Nevada? Why did USS Blue sink?
- How do you think he felt about the Pearl Harbor attack?
Lieutenant Commander S.G. Fuqua was aboard USS Arizona at the time of the attack.
- What was LCDR Fuqua doing at the time of the attack?
- Can you describe or illustrate the Japanese plan of attack?
- Describe the condition of USS Arizona.
- How do you think he felt about the Pearl Harbor attack?
Corporal B.C. Nightingale, USMC was aboard USS Arizona at the time of the attack.
- What was Corporal Nightingale doing at the time of the attack?
- What was happening to USS Arizona?
- How did Corporal Nightingale managed to survive the attack? How did some of his other shipmates die?
- How do you think he felt about the Pearl Harbor attack?
Lieutenant Commander T.T. Beattie was aboard USS West Virginia at the time of the attack.
- What was LCDR Beattie doing at the time of the attack?
- What happened to the communication system at the time of the attack? What did they resort to?
- Describe what happened to USS West Virginia
- How do you think he felt about the Pearl Harbor attack?
Pay Clerk D.L. Westfall was USS Oklahoma at the time of the attack.
- Describe the conditions inside USS Oklahoma.
- Describe what was happening to USS Oklahoma.
- What happened to Pay Clerk Westfall at the time of the attack? Why?
- How do you think he felt about the Pearl Harbor attack?
