Pearl Harbor Radio Broadcast News Bulletin
Today’s world relies on a combination of social media, blogs, TV broadcasts, text messages and more to learn about the important news of today.
But back in 1941, the primary way of communicating important news was undoubtedly the radio.
In one column posted by the Chicago Tribune, Lorrie Woycik recalled what it was like to come home from school as a little girl on the day of the Pearl Harbor attack:
I still remember, as a little girl, coming home from school, and instead of meeting us at the door with a hug, our mom was sitting right next to the radio with tears streaming down her face. We ran to her asking, “Mama, why are you crying?” When she told us a lot of sailors and soldiers had been killed when Japan bombed our ships, even as little kids, it was scary and so sad. It still brings tears to my eyes remembering.
The radio had the ability to move people to tears back then. In New York City, the news of the Pearl Harbor attack was first broadcast by the WNYC radio station. A post by WNYC made this Pearl Harbor radio broadcast news bulletin available for your listening:
WNYC Pearl Harbor Radio Broadcast News Bulletin
According to WNYC, the commandant of the Brooklyn Navy Yard ordered all officers and men in the New York area to report at once to their ships, stations or yards. Mayor LaGuardia also took to the airwaves to warn Japanese New Yorkers to stay in their homes until the government could determine their “status.”