today we're looking at pearl harbor remembrance day
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the questions down in the description so december 7th 1941 a day that will live in infamy the famous
words of franklin delano roosevelt as he addressed congress after the attack on pearl harbor
each year on december 7th in the united states we observe pearl harbor remembrance day to honor
those who gave their lives in the japanese attack on the naval base in 1941. the day was officially
recognized by congress in 1994 and was signed into law by then president bill clinton but why
do we need to stop and pause to remember and why is this day so significant in american history
throughout the 1930s and early 40s the world was descending into a second world war in europe the
german third reich led by adolf hitler was expanding their power and invading countries
throughout europe in asia the japanese empire was likewise expanding at an astonishing rate
by 1941 the japanese empire stretched all the way from papua new guinea through the philippines all
the way to in eastern china and throughout this entire time the united states had maintained
military neutrality and kept out of the conflicts in europe and southeast asia however the u.s did
use economic weapons against japan throughout the 1930s by imposing sanctions or cutting off trade
such as you know items such as oil and metal to japan by doing this the united states hoped to
slow down japan's expansion if not halted all together but these economic sanctions
strain the relationship between japan and the united states and by the early 1940s
tensions had grown to a point that the japanese believed there was really no other course than war
long before these tensions arose in 1908 the united states established a naval base
at pearl harbor on the island of oahu although hawaii was not officially a state until 1959
the u.s maintained it as a territory and it began to build up their naval presence at pearl harbor
throughout that time period and by 1940 pearl harbor was the headquarters for the entire u.s
pacific fleet with some 100 naval vessels being docked in the harbor and as japan continued their
plans for expansion in southeast asia they grew concerned that the united states fleet
might interfere with their actions and two they knew that the united states was a powerful nation
and their best chance at victory was launching a surprise attack so for months leading up to the
attack japanese commanders carefully planned and practiced for this offensive against pearl harbor
u.s commanders really saw an attack on pearl harbor as being extremely unlikely since
it was over 4 000 miles from the japanese mainland but on the morning of december 7th
1941 the japanese put their plans into motion it was a sunday morning and the japanese knew that
the naval base would be basically operating on a skeleton crew as many of the sailors
would have been out the night before and probably sleeping in or even some of them might have been
attending church services that morning on that morning japanese aircraft carriers launched
over 182 aircraft into the skies to attack in the first wave on the base at around 7 30 in the
morning radar post on pearl harbor detected the approaching planes coming from the north but they
assume that they were a group of b-17 bombers that were scheduled to arrive from california
that morning shortly after that at about 7 45 the japanese attack planes came into full view
as they flew low over the island approaching the harbor on the far side at 7 48 a.m the japanese
torpedo planes began dropping their torpedoes into the water and focused their fire on battleship row
where seven american battleships were docked next to ford island thousands of american sailors woke
up to explosions gunfire and alarm sounding as they rushed to try to defend the base after only
about 15 minutes the second wave of 171 japanese planes arrived and began to focus their attack on
the american aircraft setting at ford and wheeler field at 806 a.m a japanese bomb broke through the
deck of the battleship uss arizona and went into the ship's powder magazine or in other words where
they stored their explosives the explosives of course ignited and the explosion tore the
arizona into two and it sank and within barely 90 minutes the entire attack on pearl harbor
was over 21 ships were severely damaged the uss arizona oklahoma and utah were sunk over 300 u.s
planes were destroyed or severely damaged but worst of all 2 390 people were killed most being
american servicemen but also 49 civilians as well as over 1 000 americans injured the catastrophic
attack would be the event that would push the united states into world war ii as the following
day on december 8 1941 president franklin d roosevelt addressed congress and asked them to
a date which will live in infamy over the next approximately four years
16 million americans would serve with over 450 000 americans giving their lives in the war so
it's fitting that each year on december 7th we pause to remember those who gave their lives