Edwin T. Layton

Edwin T. Layton, who served as the chief intelligence officer of the U.S. Pacific fleet during World War II, was one of the few individuals who was present both at Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941, and at the Japanese surrender ceremony aboard the USS Missouri on September 2, 1945. At the time of the raid on Oahu, he was stationed on that island and living in a house on the eastern slope of Diamond Head. In the following riveting narrative, Layton provides an excellent general overview of the major incidents of the raid on the harbor from the American point of view. He includes not only his own memories of what he saw, but also short descriptions of other eyewitnesses in the general area, including that of his superior, Admiral Kimmel.

The torpedo bombers with their menacing instruments of...