A Day Which Will Live in Infamy

“Yesterday, December 7th, 1941—a date which will live in infamy— the United States of America was suddenly and deliberately attacked by naval and air forces of the Empire of Japan,” President of the United States, Franklin Delano Roosevelt announced in an Address to the Nation about the attack on Pearl Harbor, December 8th, 1941. On December 7th, 1941 at 7:55 am, three hundred and sixty carrier-born aircraft of the Japanese Navy made a surprise attack on the American base at Pearl Harbor.

According to Britannia online, the attack on Pearl Harbor was sparked when decaying relationships between Japan and the United States reached a climax. The United States declared an embargo on Japan, cutting Japan off from ninety percent of its oil supply, because of its invasion of Indochina and joining of the Axis powers. On November 26, a force of six carriers, two battleships, three cruisers, and eleven destroyers under Vice Admiral Nagumo Chuchi set off for Hawaii. The first wave of nearly two hundred Japanese torpedo planes, bombers, and fighters had actually been spotted by American radar but was ignored, mistaken for a flight of B-17s. The American ships at anchor and military aircraft lined up in the airfields were perfect targets for Japanese aircraft. Two battleships were destroyed by the Japanese, the USS Arizona exploded while the USS Oklahoma capsized trapping its sailors inside. Six other battleships, three cruisers, and three destroyers were damaged, along with more than one hundred and eighty American aircraft destroyed in the air or on the ground. While U.S. military casualties totaled more than three thousand four hundred men killed or wounded. Although the attack on Pearl Harbor crippled the U.S. naval and air strength in the Pacific, the three aircraft carriers, which the Japanese were after, were not at Pearl Harbor at the time. Of the battleships at Pearl Harbor, all but two were eventually repaired and returned to service. In addition, the Japanese failed to destroy the important oil facilities on the island. United States President Franklin D. Roosevelt united the country and demolished support for neutrality. On December 8th, Congress declared war on Japan, sparking the United States’ entry into World War II (“Pearl Harbor attack”).
The attack on Pearl Harbor was a horrible day in American history, with the deaths of thousands of brave men at the hands of the Japanese. However it united a nation, who stood up and fought evil and eventually prevailed.

Works Cited
"Pearl Harbor attack." Encyclopædia Britannica. 2009. Encyclopædia Britannica
Online. 28 Jul. 2009 <http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/448010/Pearl-
Harbor-attack>.