Today, December 7th is Pearl Harbor Day in the United States, a day to remember and honor all the people who passed away in the attack to Pearl Harbor on the same date in 1941. As President Franklin Dr. Roosevelt stated in the speech following the attack, December 7th, 1941, is a date that lives in infamy because of the incredible damage that was done in the blink of an eye. This is a very important date in the history of the United States and today we’ll learn a bit more about it.
The Day of the Pearl Harbor Attack
As stated earlier, Pearl Harbor is an American naval base located in Hawaii. Ten minutes after 8 am on December 7th, 1941, what was a quiet Sunday morning suddenly turned into chaos. The base was swarmed by Japanese fighter planes that started a surprise attack.
More than 2,400 people lost their lives, civilians included, and over 1,000 people were injured during the attack. Though this was a surprise attack, tension had been building between Japan and the United States for decades at that point. Americans were unhappy with how Japan was treating China.
When Japan declared war on China, many atrocities took place, including the infamous Nanking Massacre, intending to expand by taking over the Chinese territory and import market. As a response, the U.S. imposed many economic sanctions and trade embargoes on Japan to get them to stop their violent expansion.
However, that didn’t happen. Instead, the Japanese grew more determined and neither of the parties would budge during the negotiations. War, at that point, seemed unavoidable. Even so, no one saw an attack of this size coming and intelligence officials in the U.S. believed that if the Japanese would attack, they would do so close to European colonies, not close to home.
Because of this, the Pearl Harbor naval base was simply not prepared and it was relatively undefended. In other words, it was an easy target for the Japanese and they took full advantage of that. They planned to leave the Americans without a Pacific Fleet, so they wouldn’t be able to fight back when the Japanese moved across the South Pacific.
The surprise attack lasted two hours and they took down all the battleships stationed in Pearl Harbor. Only two of them were repaired, the USS Arizona and the USS Utah. The rest couldn’t be salvaged. Overall, the Japanese took down 20 vessels and 300 airplanes. They also destroyed airfields and dry docks, not to mention the loss of human life.
Even so, Japan was unsuccessful in crippling the Pacific Fleet. At that time, battleships were not the most important kind of naval vessel. Aircraft carriers were most relevant and all of the carriers in the fleet were not on Pearl Harbor that day. Moreover, the attack didn’t affect repair shops, oil storage deposits, submarine docks, and shipyards in the base. Because of this, the U.S. Navy was able to recover quickly.
Following the attack, the American people were determined to go to war for the first time in many years of debate. The Japanese essentially wanted to bully the U.S. so the sanctions would be lifted. Instead, they forced the country into a war that had been raging for 2 years and it resulted in the first occupation by a foreign power in the history of Japan.
Pearl Harbor Symbols
Many memorials have been created to symbolize this day, such as the USS Arizona Memorial located in Pearl Harbor that remembers the military personnel lost that day. The USS Utah is another memorial that honors the crew that died in the ship when it was sunk during the attack.
How to Observe Pearl Harbor Day
To observe Pearl Harbor Day, you should display the American flag in your home and fly it at half-mast in honor of those who died. You can also attend events hosted by the many associations that commemorate this day. Going to luncheons, keynote speeches, wreath-laying ceremonies, and other activities is also a good way to observe this day. Watching documentaries or reading books to learn more about the history of Pearl Harbor is also a good idea!
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