Details
ROOSEVELT, Franklin D. Typed letter signed ("Franklin D. Roosevelt") as President, to Rear Admiral Claude C. Bloch, commandant of the 14th Naval District at Pearl Harbor, 10 February 1942. 1 page, 4to (8 7/8 x 7 in.), White House stationery, two punch holes at top, otherwise in fine condition.
A POIGNANT REMINDER OF PEARL HARBOR: ROOSEVELT RECEIVES A PAPER WEIGHT MADE FROM ONE OF THE ATTACKING JAPANESE PLANES
On December 7, 1941, Japanese planes swept down upon the unsuspecting Pacific Fleet at Pearl Harbor in Hawaii. 3,300 American sailors were killed in the attack, eighteen warships were sunk or damaged and 347 of the 394 aircraft on Oahu were destroyed. The surprise was so complete and the Japanese plan of attack so well organized, that resistance to the assault was light. American anti-aircraft gunners and the few pilots who managed to get a plane aloft amidst the attack were only able to shoot down 29 Japanese aircraft.
President Roosevelt immediately responded to the Japanese attack by asking Congress for a Declaration of War. Here, two months after the attack, Roosevelt receives a somber memento from Admiral Bloch: "The paper weight which you had made from an engine part of a Japanese plane shot down during the attack on Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941, has arrived and is now on my desk. Your kindness in remembering my birthday is deeply appreciated." Roosevelt has crossed out the typewritten salutation "Admiral Bloch" and inserted the more familiar "Claude".
A POIGNANT REMINDER OF PEARL HARBOR: ROOSEVELT RECEIVES A PAPER WEIGHT MADE FROM ONE OF THE ATTACKING JAPANESE PLANES
On December 7, 1941, Japanese planes swept down upon the unsuspecting Pacific Fleet at Pearl Harbor in Hawaii. 3,300 American sailors were killed in the attack, eighteen warships were sunk or damaged and 347 of the 394 aircraft on Oahu were destroyed. The surprise was so complete and the Japanese plan of attack so well organized, that resistance to the assault was light. American anti-aircraft gunners and the few pilots who managed to get a plane aloft amidst the attack were only able to shoot down 29 Japanese aircraft.
President Roosevelt immediately responded to the Japanese attack by asking Congress for a Declaration of War. Here, two months after the attack, Roosevelt receives a somber memento from Admiral Bloch: "The paper weight which you had made from an engine part of a Japanese plane shot down during the attack on Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941, has arrived and is now on my desk. Your kindness in remembering my birthday is deeply appreciated." Roosevelt has crossed out the typewritten salutation "Admiral Bloch" and inserted the more familiar "Claude".