Dec. 7, 2011. On this 70th Anniversary of a date that lives in infamy, a multi-media team of storytellers launches an immersive website 70years.org to virtually enable all Minnesotans to again share in the day-to-day tragedies and triumphs of total world war as told through the state's newspaper headlines.
A very special public program will include the film “First Shot: The Secret Submarine Attack on Pearl Harbor”, an eyewitness account from Pearl Harbor veteran/St Paul native Richard Thill and a brief glimpse into the day one newspaper reporting of the Second World War.
“First Shot” is a revealing, 30-minute documentary about a little reported story of the mysterious encounter between a Japanese submarine and the USS Ward one hour before the Japanese planes attacked Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941. The Ward fired on and sank one of the submarines; propelling the United States into WWII. Richard Thill was aboard the Ward that morning and is prominently featured in the film.