by Dom Califano

Pearl Harbor, Territory of Hawaii, December 6th 1941 – It was a normal morning, just like any other morning. Little did the sailors and civilians alike of Pearl Harbor and Pearl City know that the next morning, December 7th, the Japanese Empire would strike their naval base and America would find herself in the mists of war fighting tooth and nail against the Fascist dictators of Europe and Asia.

For a bit of background, the Japanese Empire had been attacking China since around 1937 and had also been striking at British, French, and Dutch colonies in South-East Asia since 1940, officially going to war with the Allied Powers. During this time, America was a nation that proclaimed neutrality, but heavily favored the United Kingdom and France. In 1941 the United States enacted the Lend-Lease Act, allowing the United States to send weapons to any nation that is deemed vital for American defense to keep their warmachines running. This would prove vital for the United Kingdom and Soviet Union as a lot of their industrial base was destroyed by the German Air Force, or in the Soviet’s case simply taken over. Back in the far east, the Japanese relied on American oil due to Japan not having many natural resources. As Japan continued to ramp up its war effort in China, attacking into French Indochina, as well as attacking the Dutch East Indies, the United States had enough. On August 1st, 1941 the United States declared that it wouldn’t send any “aggressor” nation oil, this meant Japan couldn’t get American oil which they relied on. They had about 2 years in their reserves. 

The Japanese readied their “Southern Operation”, meaning they would attack British ships in Singapore, invade British Malaya (Modern day Malaysia, Brunei, and Singapore), the Dutch East Indies (Modern day Indonesia), as well as invade the Philippines… Which was under American protection. The Japanese Southern Operation also called for the Japanese strike on Pearl Harbor to disable the United States Pacific Fleet from stopping the Japanese plans in south-east Asia. It took about six months for the Japanese to formulate the plan. Negotiations with the Americans were proving to be unsuccessful, thus on November 25th the Japanese Navy consisted of around 67 ships, 6 of which were aircraft carriers holding 400 planes, headed for a launching point that was predetermined. Radio Silence was enacted by the Japanese so they wouldn’t be seen by American radar. It took around 12 days to get to the launch site.

Suddenly, over the radio “Tora! Tora! Tora!”, or “Tiger! Tiger! Tiger!” in English. The Japanese code-phrase that was used and shouted to inform the Japanese fleet that they had caught the Americans by surprise. For an hour and fifteen minutes, the Japanese continued to rain bombs, machine-gun fire, torpedoes and whatever else they had on the American defenders. Only a handful of American planes got off the ground to fight against the Japanese invaders. The attack on  Pearl Harbor was the biggest surprise attack in modern-history. The United States went on to declare war on Japan, and two days after that Germany and Italy both declared war on the United States.

 FDR, in his Day of Infamy speech, said “Yesterday, 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.” The speech led to the United States joining the allied powers. December 7th from then on was a day America would never forget.