Pearl Harbor: The Most Tragic Events In American History

The United States had not finished decoding the last and final message until the late morning of the 7th Eastern Standard Time. The final message stated to cease relations with the US and prepare to announce their declaration of war at 1PM EST. A bit late (1130 EST) and after learning of its content, General Marshall ordered immediate defensive posture in Hawaii once realizing the time difference between the main land and the islands. Unfortunately this fell on deaf ears due to complications of the atmosphere blocking radio communications, Washington had to send word via commercial telegram which did not arrive until well after the attack.

December 7, 1941: Attacks on Pearl Harbor: Around November 25, the US intercepted a message of an imminent attack on US soil. In addition, Japan started to move its navy towards Hawaii. Washington’s response to this was a warning to Hawaii, indicating the anticipated attack. However, on December 7, 1941, a fleet on Japanese bombers approached Pearl Harbor with the intent to bomb the navy port. US navy ships were left defenseless as the Japanese torpedoes starting to sink them. Within two hours, US lost eight battleships, two cruisers, and more than a hundred planes. About two thousand soldiers died and one thousand were injured. As a result of this attack, President Roosevelt addressed the Congress, asking for the declaration of war. On

“Yesterday, December 7, 1941—a date which will live in infamy—the United States of America was suddenly and deliberately attacked by the naval plus the air forces of the Empire of Japan.” The bombing of Pearl Harbor was the start of America’s entrance into the Second World War. Just before 08:00 on the Sunday morning, hundreds of fighter planes descended onto the naval base incapacitating almost 20 naval vessels along with over 300 airplanes. The attack on Pearl Harbor also killed over 2,400 Americans

“The Japanese plan was simple: Destroy the Pacific Fleet. That way, the Americans would not be able to fight back as Japan’s armed forces spread across the South Pacific. On December 7, after months of planning and practice, the Japanese launched their attack. In all, the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor crippled or destroyed nearly 20 American ships and more than 300 airplanes. Dry docks and airfields were likewise destroyed. Most important, almost 2,500 men were killed and another 1,000 were wounded. On December 8, Congress approved Roosevelt’s declaration of war. Three days later, Japanese allies Germany and Italy declared war against the United States. For the second time, Congress reciprocated. More than two years after the start of the conflict, the United States had entered World War II” (History.com).

President Franklin D. Roosevelt delivered his war speech and asserted December 7, 1941 as, “a date which will live in infamy.” The United States’ naval bases stationed in Pearl Harbor, Hawaii were struck by Japanese planes intentionally and promptly. The news of this attack on the Pearl Harbor shocked the world. It was devastating to the nation that were still in the throes of depression. Witnesses of this event painted a portrait of a nation stunned, but determined to rise again. The United States’ government had not disclosed a Pearl Harbor story to the public--that the U.S. had failed to act on advance information about a planned Japanese attack. Japan 's move against the United States was audacious enough to be considered no more than a slight possibility, although the potential for an attack had been widely discussed.

Dec. 7, 1941: Pearl Harbor: During WWII, the Japanese bombed an American military base located in Hawaii because they wanted to increase their power in the Pacific. The bombing of Pearl Harbor left more than 2000 men dead and injured more than 1000. The attack also causes Congress to declare war on Japan the following day meaning the United States was officially involved in WWII. The attack on Pearl Harbor is important because it was the main factor that lead the United States to get involved in World War II.

Pearl Harbor, the beginning of the war between Japan and the United States, was the start of dreadful war organized by Japanese aircraft. The attack was a withheld, destructive attack against the United State's naval base in Hawaii. This attack on December 7, 1941 was originally a plan to conquer the Dutch East Indies without being interrupted by the U.S. Pacific fleet. The Japanese were tired of negotiations with the United States, they wanted to continue their expansion, but the United States had placed an extremely restrictive embargo on Japan in the hopes of curbing Japan's aggression. This terrible ambush resulted in the United State's entry into World War II. The aerial attacks were sent in two waves, this resulted in the sinking of multiple U.S. Battleships, Destroyers, Cruisers, and Auxiliaries, which led to thousands of U.S. personnel casualties and many wounded army, marines, and navy soldiers including many citizens.

A series of Japanese codes broken by the U.S. Crytologist in 1920 revealed the country preparation for war, after decoding another of message that orders a ship to be position in Pearl Harbor (Glick). Before the raid Britain had broken Japanese codes and had key clues (Glick). They broke Japan’s diplomatic code; American officials knew about the Japan’s Embassy order to destroy its codes machines (Pearl Harbor). On October 9, 1941 the War Department decoded a Tokyo-to-Honolulu dispatch instructing the consul General to divide Pearl Harbor into five areas and to tell the exact location of American ship in that area (Perloff). The Dutch army decoded a dispatch forecasting attacks on four areas including Hawaii (Perloff). There were a lot of different Japanese codes that were cracked, warning of the Japanese going to attack on Pearl Harbor.

The Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor on December 7th, 1941 and it shocked the world. The Japanese became complex and adapted to breaking into codes from other countries. The Americans knew they needed

NAVY VETERAN: Exactly one day after the attack the military had regained somewhat of a control over Pearl Harbor. We were already close to freeing soldiers stuck in turned over ships and wrecked vessels and had the island surrounded by barbed wire. After a couple of days the a sense of normalcy returned to Pearl Harbor but mainly everyone was a little paranoid about the unexpected and what could happen at any moment. The U.S. was also very angry that they had been defeated and wanted revenge. In no time congress formally declared War on Japan. This war was known as World War Two. It is writing down in history as one of the most deadly wars of all times. This time the U.S. proved there would be no chance in hell they would be defeated again. The U.S. invaded Japan and showed no mercy, attacking them with all their might. The Japanese were

Military and government to decrypt the Japanese war codes as well as communicate effectively with each other. As Parker explains in his publication Pearl Harbor Revisited,

These messages, intercepted on December 3rd and 4th weren't translated until December 10th. The messages showed Tokyo asking for information concerning Pearl Harbor. Japan had no reason to ask for this information, unless it planned to use it to attack ships in the harbor. If translated sooner, these messages would have warned the US of the imminent attack. Many indicators for Pearl Harbor could have repeated before the attack on the calm morning on 9-1-1.

After the attack on Pearl Harbor Dec. 7, 1941, President Franklin Roosevelt signed Executive Order 9066 which made every person of japanese heritage on the east coast uproot and move to ten different internment camps. No matter what their loyalty or citizenship they were forced to get up and go to camps established in either California, Idaho, Utah, Arizona, Wyoming, Colorado, and Arkansas. After all said and done this ended up at over one hundred and twenty thousand japanese americans. Sadly most Americans don 't know why they were moved from their homes, how they were removed, and how they were treated within these camps.

First I will give a little general history of the attack on Pearl Harbor. The attack on Pearl Harbor, a day that shall live in infamy, happened on the 7th of December, 1941. The Japanese naval forces launched an attack on the U.S. naval base of Pearl Harbor, the attack including mini submarines and aircraft. In an effort to destroy dozens of ships in the U.S. Navy, the Japanese aircraft dropped hundreds of bombs, along with torpedoes (Perlman, 2011). The battle only spanned 90 minutes, but it would be one of the worst moments in American history with over 3,700 casualties. The day after the attack on Pearl Harbor, the U.S. President, Franklin Roosevelt, asked Congress for a declaration of war on the nation of Japan. This request was passed with minimal opposition, this being a member of congress

“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” (Roosevelt). Japan surprise attacked the Hawaiian naval base, Pearl Harbor, approximately at 7:55 am. The intent of the Japanese strike was to prevent the U.S. Pacific Fleet from interfering with plans to seize overseas territories belonging to United Kingdom, the Netherlands and the United States.