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Learning about an important event through interviewing people that took part in it is one of the ways historians use to document historical developments. It may not be as factually correct as official papers and records, yet witnesses reports contribute a lot to historians understanding of an event or an era. It is especially relevant when it concerns occurrences that were not thoroughly documented or even observed by outsiders. Most importantly, people talking about something that they participated in provides historians with personal emotional evaluation of the event and its consequences, which in itself is of great significance for historical accuracy.
To talk about this matter with precision, it is crucial to have a look at certain instances when historians learned about an event in detail through the eyes of an immediate participant. In this essay, the case of James Fahey, an American navy officer who fought in World War II, will be studied. He kept a diary during his service where he documented the events he was going through, one of which happened to be the first Kamikaze attack of 1944.
Through James Faheys diary, historians learned in excessive detail the order of events on that day, such as the exact time when the attack was announced and how many hostile aircraft took part in it. It also provides a description of the American navy forces behavior as they strived to defend the tanker supplying them with fuel ( Kamikaze Attack, 2005). Furthermore, Faheys interpretation of the battle is presented in the diary and is particularly interesting to historians, as it concerns the first Kamikaze attack, a phenomenon that had never before been described. Faheys personal evaluation of the events is present through the usage of the personal pronoun I in such phrases as: I think&, I never saw&, and phrases indicating uncertainty: It must be& ( Kamikaze Attack, 2005). Thus, Fahey stresses that at the time they did not realize it was a suicide mission. Therefore, the Americans did not know right away they had to destroy the planes, since merely damaging them would not make a difference.
Essentially, historians learn a lot of details of an event not through official records but through eyewitnesses and participants. Some things that may seem insignificant in the context of an official document create a whole new picture for historians and future generations when told by a person who was a part of that event.
Reference
Kamikaze Attack, 1944. (2005). EyeWitness to History. Web.
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