Today in history: Attack on Pearl Harbor

[Callalily]

Attack on Pearl Harbor

December 7, 1941

On this day in 1941, just before 8:00 am local time, Japanese forces unleashed an unexpected and deadly attack on the U.S. Naval base at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii. The attack — which President Franklin D. Roosevelt would later famously describe as “a date which will live in infamy” — resulted in the deaths of 2,403 American sailors, soldiers, and civilians, and an additional 1,000 wounded. It also led to the United States’ immediate entry into World War II, a conflict that had been underway since the summer of 1939, and which many Americans had hoped to avoid.

The Japanese inflicted significant damage to the U.S. fleet at Pearl Harbor, but not the all-crippling blow they had intended. All U.S. Navy aircraft carriers were away on training missions at the time, and while the battleships USS Arizona and Utah were permanently lost, the Navy was able to salvage and repair a significant number of ships in the wake of the attack. America’s entry into WWII bolstered Allied forces, and in June 1942 they won a decisive victory over Japan at the Battle of Midway, turning the tide of battle in the Pacific.

[Irish_Dem]

1. I remember my mother talking about this day. Everyone was totally shocked, stunned, afraid.

Then under the direction of FDR, everyone mobilized into action, doing their part for the war effort.

[Omnipresent]

2. My Grandfather lost his cousin that day, on the Oklahoma.

A few weeks after, he received a Christmas card from him that was mailed with the ships stamp on it.
It was mailed on Nov 24th, as mail was slow in those days.

[abqtommy]

3. The Dolittle (Bombing) Raid took the fight directly to Japan on 18 April 1942.

The Doolittle Raid, also known as the Tokyo Raid, was an air raid on 18 April 1942 by the United States on the Japanese capital Tokyo and other places on Honshu during World War II. It was the first air operation to strike the Japanese archipelago.

Thanks. Let us always remember The Seventh Of December.