Remembering Pearl Harbor, Before and After

FROM WASHINGTONIAN.COM

Author Craig Shirley on the 70th Anniversary of Pearl Harbor

Craig Shirley is the president and CEO of Shirley & Banister, a conservative-leaning government affairs, marketing, and public relations firm based in Alexandria. But he’s also an author of several books, including two on Ronald Reagan and one on Newt Gingrich. In his most recent work, he turns his attention to a timely piece of history: the month of days before, during, and after the December 7, 1941, Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor. This Wednesday marks the 70th anniversary of the event, in which 2,400 Americans were killed and 1,200 wounded.

December 1941: 31 Days That Changed America and Saved the World is broken down by date from the first day of the month to the last. Shirley worked on it with his son, Andrew, a veteran, and dedicates the book to “family and friends who chose to serve”—not only in World War II, during which his uncle was killed in the Pacific, but in American wars going back to the Revolution. It is a page and a half of names.

I talked to Shirley about his book and his thoughts on the 70th anniversary of Pearl Harbor. Read my interview with Craig Shirley.