Pearl Harbor Remembrance Day It is important for all of us to take a moment and remember the December 7th, 1941 attack on Pearl Harbor - a defining moment in history. The Pearl Harbor surprise helped shape a generation of National defense policy and was not forgotten by those who had lived through the war. Monuments were erected on the battle sites and around the country Veteran reunion groups met regularly to keep the memory alive. VetFriends has created a WWII/Pearl Harbor remembrance photo page at vetfriends/militarypics - dedicated to all who served in the U.S. Armed Forces during the Pearl Harbor attacks, WWII and moreover throughout history. Brief History - Day that shall live in Infamy Under the greatest secrecy, Japanese Vice Admiral Nagumo took his ships to sea on the 26th of November 1941, as a result of Japans pressing need for secure flanks during their planned offensive into Southeast Asia and the East Indies. Before dawn on the 7th of December, a carefully planned attack wave of over 180 aircraft, including torpedo planes, high-level bombers, dive bombers and fighters, was launched in the darkness and flew off to the south. When the first group had taken off, a second attack wave of similar size, but with more dive bombers and no torpedo planes, was brought up from the carriers hangar decks and sent off into the emerging morning light. Dive bombers attacked airfields at about 7:55 AM, destroying many aircraft. This attack prompted the dispatch of the famous message Air raid, Pearl Harbor -- this is no drill, the outside Worlds first indication that war had come to the Pacific. Within a few moments, torpedo planes attacked from east and west, with one of the latter torpedoing the USS Helena at 1010 dock. Others, from the same direction, hit USS Utah and USS Raleigh, off the western side of Ford Island. Within a short time five of eight battleships at Pearl Harbor were sunk or sinking, with the rest damaged. Several other ships and most Hawaii-based combat planes were also knocked out and over 2400 Americans were dead. The United States Navys battleship force was removed as a possible threat to the Japanese Empires southward expansion. As a result, America was abruptly brought into the Second World War as a full combatant. The memory of the sneak attack on Pearl Harbor fueled a determination for Americans to fight on against all opposed to World peace.
Posted on: Sun, 07 Dec 2014 15:37:12 +0000
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