December 7th, 1941
With the U.S. attempting to keep itself from entering into the second world war, an unmitigated attack on a distant naval station pushed the United States into retaliation.
On Sunday morning at 8 am, Japanese planes flew over the naval station at Pearl Harbor Hawaii, dropping bombs and bullets. The surprise attack was meant to destroy America’s naval fleet. Thus allowing the Japanese to spread throughout the south pacific without pause.
The attack lasted just under two hours, killing over 2,400 soldiers and civilians and injuring around 1,000 more. The attack damaged all battleships in dock:
- USS Arizona
- USS California
- USS Oklahoma
- USS West Virginia
- USS Utah
- USS Maryland
- USS Pennsylvania
- USS Tennessee
- USS Nevada
However, the destruction could’ve been worse. The major facilities which housed oil reserves, repair and shipyards were all untouched. This allowed a quick recovery as Americans rallied together to enter into war and vindicate those lost by such a suprise attack.
Memorial
Aerial view of USS Arizona Memorial, World War II Valor In The Pacific National Monument in Pearl Harbor Honolulu Hawaii
Such a deadly attack that changed our history is still memorialized in Pearl Harbor. The USS Arizona remains submerged, a monument to remember what happened that deadly day in December. The lives lost, trapped beneath the water in murky graves will never be forgotten.
This link to History.com gives even more facts and pictures about that day over 70 years ago.
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