A Date that Will Live in Infamy
Wars have been fought since the beginning of time. People today have studied all kinds of wars; varying from medieval wars to the Civil War and from the Great Roman Empire to World War I. Lands have been fought over countless times and even today some countries are still at war over who they believe should rule their land. The United States alone has been in several wars since it was founded in 1776. One of the most memorable and tragic events in the United States history led the US to join the Second World War.
In the early 1900’s, Japan was starting to expand southward. The Japanese expanded into China and started an “endless” war with the Chinese in the mid-1930’s. The Japanese badly needed oil and other raw materials so their government sought out where ever they could to find it. “In July 1941 the Western powers effectively halted trade with Japan” (Naval History Center). The Japanese desperately schemed to seize oil and minerals. They looked toward the East Indies who were rich in minerals and Southeast Asia. By late November, peace negotiations were clearly approaching an end. U.S. officials expected the Japanese to attack the Indies, Malaya and the Philippines but they were not expecting what happened on December 7th, 1941 on United States soil.
The Japanese felt attacking the U.S. as well as other countries was a perfect chance to fight for what they wanted: oil and minerals. Pearl Harbor’s base was somewhat easily reachable by an aircraft carrier force, so the Japanese Navy carefully planned the bombing of Pearl Harbor a long time before the event took place. The Japanese secretly sent an aircraft force that had the greatest aerial striking power ever seen before on the world’s ocean. On Saturday December 6th, President Franklin Roosevelt made a final appeal to the Emperor of Japan for peace but there was no reply. “Later that day, the U.S. code-breaking service began intercepting a 14-part Japanese message and deciphered the first 13 parts…..The Americans believed a Japanese attack was imminent, but most likely somewhere in Southeast Asia” (The History Place). Sadly, the U.S. decoded the fourteenth message too late, the morning of December 7th; it stated that diplomatic relations with the U.S. were to be broken off. About an hour later the U.S. government intercepted another message that instructed the Japanese embassy to deliver the main message at about 1 p.m. to the Americans. The American government figured out the message was dealing with the time zone in Pearl Harbor and tried to send them a warning but it didn’t make it until four hours after the attack had begun.
On December 7th, the Japanese attack force under the command of Admiral Nagumo was in place to attack. At 6 a.m. the first wave of planes 183 out of the 423 planes were under way to do an aerial raid on Pearl Harbor. Some Army personal spotted these planes but thought they were American B-17 planes that were coming in from the U.S. West Coast. At about 7:15 a.m. a second wave of planes consisting of 167 planes headed for Pearl Harbor. “At 7:53 a.m., the first Japanese assault wave, with 51 'Val' dive bombers, 40 'Kate' torpedo bombers, 50 high level bombers and 43 'Zero' fighters, commences the attack with flight commander, Mitsuo Fuchida, sounding the battle cry: "Tora! Tora! Tora!" (Tiger! Tiger! Tiger!)” (The History Place). The first attack wave targeted airfields and battleships, while the second wave targeted other ships and shipyard facilities. The air raid lasted about one hour and fifty-two minutes. Eight battle ships were damaged, five sunk, three light cruisers, three destroyers, and three smaller vessels were lost along with 188 aircraft. The Japanese only lost twenty-seven planes and five midget submarines which never entered Pearl Harbor. 1,178 Americans were wounded and 2,335 servicemen and 68 civilians were killed the day of Pearl Harbor’s attack.
The Japanese did not sink the entire American fleet, but they succeeded in what they intended to do. They took a huge chunk of our military away from the American military and showed the United States they were vulnerable, but something else happened that they were not expecting. Young men volunteered to join the U.S. armed forces and the nation was united with the president and ended the isolationist sentiment the country was in. The U.S. was brought out of the Great Depression and people were able to live and have working jobs again. On December 8th the United States and Britain declared war on Japan. President Roosevelt gave a speech that day that was remembered forever. He said, “December 7th, a date which will live in infamy…” This speech helped bring the U.S. together to fight as one nation. The European and Southeast Asian wars advanced into a global conflict. On December 11th Germany and Italy declared war on the United States. The Axis powers- Japan, Germany, and Italy, fought against the allies: the United States, Britain, France and all their allies. On December 17th, Admiral Chester W. Nimitz became commander of the U.S. Pacific Fleet, which forged on to avenge Pearl Harbor. “The distrust of Japanese Americans arising out of the American public resulted in a tougher life for Japanese Americans and, eventually, the internment camps” (the Effects ... on Japanese Americans).
Throughout the U.S., Japanese Americans were affected greatly by the bombing of Pearl Harbor. As soon as it happened, the people of the United States made up their minds that the Japanese were trying to assimilate the western culture and were spies. Many anti-Japanese sentiments arose, and Americans started to no longer accommodate Japanese Americans. The Japanese started to lose contact with their culture. In 1942, one hundred-twenty thousand Japanese Americans were imprisoned behind barbed wire fences.
The armed forces of the U.S. deployed to fight Japan and the other Axis powers. The U.S. had losses and many victories during World War II. Once the U.S. defeated the Japanese at the Battle of the Coral Sea and the Battle of Midway, America moved on to invade and push forward. Under the command of Admiral Chester W. Nimitz, “…the Americans took back many Japanese held islands on their way to the Japanese mainland. In June, 1944, Saipan fell and then in July America captured Guam. In March, 1945, America took Iwo Jima and held Okinawa by June” (Overview of World War II). In August 1945, President Harry Truman decided to drop atomic bombs on two major cities in Japan, Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Following the bombings on September 1st, 1945, the Japanese surrendered. This day was also known as V-J Day (Victory over Japan day.) The U.S. continued to fight against the Germans and other enemies but after V-J Day, Pearl Harbor was avenged and the Japanese reaped the consequences of their actions.
After the Americans cut off the Japanese oil supply, the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor. After Pearl Harbor, the U.S. went to war to avenge it and succeeded in defeating the Japanese. As long as nations look for more power, wealth and expanding, wars will continue throughout the future. Nations will always fight and never stay peaceful for too long. As you can see today, the U.S. is yet again at another war avenging the destruction of the world trade towers on September 11th, 2001.
In the early 1900’s, Japan was starting to expand southward. The Japanese expanded into China and started an “endless” war with the Chinese in the mid-1930’s. The Japanese badly needed oil and other raw materials so their government sought out where ever they could to find it. “In July 1941 the Western powers effectively halted trade with Japan” (Naval History Center). The Japanese desperately schemed to seize oil and minerals. They looked toward the East Indies who were rich in minerals and Southeast Asia. By late November, peace negotiations were clearly approaching an end. U.S. officials expected the Japanese to attack the Indies, Malaya and the Philippines but they were not expecting what happened on December 7th, 1941 on United States soil.
The Japanese felt attacking the U.S. as well as other countries was a perfect chance to fight for what they wanted: oil and minerals. Pearl Harbor’s base was somewhat easily reachable by an aircraft carrier force, so the Japanese Navy carefully planned the bombing of Pearl Harbor a long time before the event took place. The Japanese secretly sent an aircraft force that had the greatest aerial striking power ever seen before on the world’s ocean. On Saturday December 6th, President Franklin Roosevelt made a final appeal to the Emperor of Japan for peace but there was no reply. “Later that day, the U.S. code-breaking service began intercepting a 14-part Japanese message and deciphered the first 13 parts…..The Americans believed a Japanese attack was imminent, but most likely somewhere in Southeast Asia” (The History Place). Sadly, the U.S. decoded the fourteenth message too late, the morning of December 7th; it stated that diplomatic relations with the U.S. were to be broken off. About an hour later the U.S. government intercepted another message that instructed the Japanese embassy to deliver the main message at about 1 p.m. to the Americans. The American government figured out the message was dealing with the time zone in Pearl Harbor and tried to send them a warning but it didn’t make it until four hours after the attack had begun.
On December 7th, the Japanese attack force under the command of Admiral Nagumo was in place to attack. At 6 a.m. the first wave of planes 183 out of the 423 planes were under way to do an aerial raid on Pearl Harbor. Some Army personal spotted these planes but thought they were American B-17 planes that were coming in from the U.S. West Coast. At about 7:15 a.m. a second wave of planes consisting of 167 planes headed for Pearl Harbor. “At 7:53 a.m., the first Japanese assault wave, with 51 'Val' dive bombers, 40 'Kate' torpedo bombers, 50 high level bombers and 43 'Zero' fighters, commences the attack with flight commander, Mitsuo Fuchida, sounding the battle cry: "Tora! Tora! Tora!" (Tiger! Tiger! Tiger!)” (The History Place). The first attack wave targeted airfields and battleships, while the second wave targeted other ships and shipyard facilities. The air raid lasted about one hour and fifty-two minutes. Eight battle ships were damaged, five sunk, three light cruisers, three destroyers, and three smaller vessels were lost along with 188 aircraft. The Japanese only lost twenty-seven planes and five midget submarines which never entered Pearl Harbor. 1,178 Americans were wounded and 2,335 servicemen and 68 civilians were killed the day of Pearl Harbor’s attack.
The Japanese did not sink the entire American fleet, but they succeeded in what they intended to do. They took a huge chunk of our military away from the American military and showed the United States they were vulnerable, but something else happened that they were not expecting. Young men volunteered to join the U.S. armed forces and the nation was united with the president and ended the isolationist sentiment the country was in. The U.S. was brought out of the Great Depression and people were able to live and have working jobs again. On December 8th the United States and Britain declared war on Japan. President Roosevelt gave a speech that day that was remembered forever. He said, “December 7th, a date which will live in infamy…” This speech helped bring the U.S. together to fight as one nation. The European and Southeast Asian wars advanced into a global conflict. On December 11th Germany and Italy declared war on the United States. The Axis powers- Japan, Germany, and Italy, fought against the allies: the United States, Britain, France and all their allies. On December 17th, Admiral Chester W. Nimitz became commander of the U.S. Pacific Fleet, which forged on to avenge Pearl Harbor. “The distrust of Japanese Americans arising out of the American public resulted in a tougher life for Japanese Americans and, eventually, the internment camps” (the Effects ... on Japanese Americans).
Throughout the U.S., Japanese Americans were affected greatly by the bombing of Pearl Harbor. As soon as it happened, the people of the United States made up their minds that the Japanese were trying to assimilate the western culture and were spies. Many anti-Japanese sentiments arose, and Americans started to no longer accommodate Japanese Americans. The Japanese started to lose contact with their culture. In 1942, one hundred-twenty thousand Japanese Americans were imprisoned behind barbed wire fences.
The armed forces of the U.S. deployed to fight Japan and the other Axis powers. The U.S. had losses and many victories during World War II. Once the U.S. defeated the Japanese at the Battle of the Coral Sea and the Battle of Midway, America moved on to invade and push forward. Under the command of Admiral Chester W. Nimitz, “…the Americans took back many Japanese held islands on their way to the Japanese mainland. In June, 1944, Saipan fell and then in July America captured Guam. In March, 1945, America took Iwo Jima and held Okinawa by June” (Overview of World War II). In August 1945, President Harry Truman decided to drop atomic bombs on two major cities in Japan, Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Following the bombings on September 1st, 1945, the Japanese surrendered. This day was also known as V-J Day (Victory over Japan day.) The U.S. continued to fight against the Germans and other enemies but after V-J Day, Pearl Harbor was avenged and the Japanese reaped the consequences of their actions.
After the Americans cut off the Japanese oil supply, the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor. After Pearl Harbor, the U.S. went to war to avenge it and succeeded in defeating the Japanese. As long as nations look for more power, wealth and expanding, wars will continue throughout the future. Nations will always fight and never stay peaceful for too long. As you can see today, the U.S. is yet again at another war avenging the destruction of the world trade towers on September 11th, 2001.
posted by angela jacobs at
6:13 PM
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