On December 7th, 1941 at 7:55am the Japanese made good on their decision to attack the American Pacific fleet at Pearl Harbor Hawaii. Today, the United States honors and remembers those whom defended our country that morning.
Over 1900 service members gave their lives that day and over 2300 were killed and over 1000 wounded. Civilian casualties accounted for another 57 killed and the like number wounded. The fleet lost 18 ships as sunk or damaged and over 161 airplanes were lost. One of the greatest losses of life was aboard the battleship AZ which over 1700 sailors and marines lost there lives when a Japanese bomb detonated the ships magazine. The Pacific Fleet had been crippled.
The American Nation was galvanized form that point to accept nothing less than absolute victory. Within seven months (June 1942) of the Pearl Harbor attack the under strength United States Navy’s Pacific Fleet took on the Japanese Imperial Navy at a small island in the middle of the Pacific called Midway. The Japanese Fleet was then crippled. History will write of that event, “the war was over at that point the Japanese just didn’t get it”. At the end point in August 1945 the United States Home Front had replaced many times over the losses of Pearl Harbor. There was no Imperial Japanese Navy left, nor could the Japanese field creditable air forces.
Within this context we observe the attack on Pearl Harbor for what it is… the beginning of the defeat of Japan in the Pacific War.
