Pearl Harbor – What Happened December 7, 1941
Lake County Republican Party shared this this morning,
well worth a read, and remembering.
On the early Sunday morning of December 7, 1941, sudden news reports of an attack by a foreign power stunned Americans much as it did on 9/11.
One of the most violent attacks ever against U.S. forces, the Japanese air force had slipped in quietly over Oahu precisely at 7:55 AM to wreak havoc on the air and navy fleet stationed on the Hawaiian island.
The raid — which came with no declaration of war — destroyed four battleships and damaged four more in just two hours.
Among the American armed forces, there were a total of 2,335 killed, including 2,008 navy personnel, 109 marines, and 218 army. 68 civilians also lost their lives in the attack making the total fatalities 2,403 people.
Also lost forever was the American sense of innocence, and the belief that the US was somehow protected from the battles already raging in Europe. On December 7, 1941, the US was suddenly and without warming thrust into World War II.
USS Arizona
Amid the destruction on December 7, 1941, five battleships were seriously damaged or sunk and would require extensive repairs to get them into action again.
The worst befell the U.S.S. Arizona when a 1760-pound bomb struck its gunpowder store resulting in a massive explosion. Today, the U.S.S. Arizona lies in its watery grave at the bottom of the harbor, with a memorial built directly over it honoring the 1,177 lives that were lost on the ship that fateful day.
“…a date which will live in infamy”
Shortly following the Pearl Harbor attack, President Franklin D. Roosevelt spoke to Congress and the nation in a radio address now considered one of the most famous American political speeches of the 20th century.
Calling December 7th “a date which will live in infamy.” FDR rallied Americans nationwide and, amid thundering applause stated that, since the moment of the attack, “a state of war has existed between the United States and the Japanese Empire.”
Four long years later, hundreds of thousands of lives continued to be lost in the Pacific even as war in Europe was declared over. Horrific scenes of carnage were only equaled by the dropping of two atomic bombs by the US on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, which finally brought Japan to its knees and World War II to an end.
Remembering Pearl Harbor Today
For most Americans today, the USS Arizona memorial remains the focal point for commemorating the attack at Pearl Harbor along with tours of the USS Missouri, upon which the Japanese formally surrendered to the US on September 2, 1945.
Elsewhere on the mainland US, veteran’s groups and American Legion outposts remember the day by honoring surviving soldiers that fought at Pearl Harbor and in the Pacific, along with the placing of memorial wreaths at the graves of the fallen.
