Pearl Harbor Attacked--Back Story and More

There are actually many names for December 7th, 1941. By the Japanese Imperial Headquarters, it was called Hawaii Operation or Operation Z, but by Americans-- it was simple "the attack on Pearl Harbor".  My generation still had  a good forty years before we appeared on this planet and my parents had a good ten years, nonetheless "the attack of Pearl Harbor" was and is something we remember about December 7th.

It was a little before 8 a.m. Hawaii time and the first strike against   the Pearl Harbor Naval Base came--it was that few seconds that lead the U.S to war against Japan, and our formal entrance to World War II.  President Roosevelt's six-minute speech asked Congress to pass his declaration of War on Japan--and that they did with in the hour.  Four days later on December 11th, 1941--Germany and Italy declared war on the United States.

                           

The attack was quick and to the point, the Japanese knew what they needed to do and sadly got in done in less that two hours. The first attack came at 7:53am, the second at 8:55am, by 9:55am--it was over and by 1:00pm on that sunny Sunday afternoon the carriers that launched the planes were on their way back to Japan.

This attack left 2,403 dead, 188 destroyed planes and a Pacific Fleet that included 8 damaged or destroyed battleships.

The Back Story

A majority of Americans thought the country should not intervene in World War II, but there was  growing tensions with many European nations and Japan--which made it difficult for the U.S to not get involved.  Japan wanted to expanded, so America and other nations set up embargoes to check their expansion. Although, they had already captured significant amount of territories, they wanted more.  The United States would only lift the embargo, if Japan left some of these territories. At the end of November, Japan decided it would be the absolute last time for a settlement with the U.S.

Japan devised a plan to invade territories across Asia and the Pacific but was afraid of interference from the U.S. Pacific Fleet based in Pearl Harbor. So, the attack on Pearl Harbor happened.

Newspaper Headlines

Pearl Harbor Today

An average of 4,000 people visit the site of the Pearl Harbor attack each day, and 1.5 million people visit the USS Arizona memorial each year, according to the Pearl Harbor Tour's website.