Years before the assassination of President John F. Kennedy in 1963, decades before the attack on September 11,2001 and the January 6, 2021 insurrection, there was the December 7, 1941 day of infamy, the bombing attack on Pearl Harbour in Hawaii.
World War Two had already been a battle raged in Europe long before this day of infamy and the United States were trying their best not to send soldiers to join the forces against Hitler. Too many men had been lost in the previous World War, that the United States only planned on sernding military aid to the allies, such as money, supplies, and ammunition. During this time, Japan, acting in their own self-interest and need for natural resources found in China, Indochina, and the Pacific, were conducting large scale attacks of their own in order to acquire these needs. The United States seeing the actions of Japan already playing out and also seeing the value of such resources placed restrictions against, resulting in fueling Japan's ire even further.
The United States believed any attack from Japan would fall upon the Pacific Islands further out in the ocean, and therefore, Pearl Harbour was less defended. On December 7, 1941 at 8:00 am, seizing the opportunity to attack a defenseless military base and major port of USA, Japan's military airforce filled the skies above Pearl Harbour, Oahu, Hawaii. Ten minutes later, 8:10 am, the bombs were dropped upon every battleship in Pearl Harbour, USS Arizona, USS Oklahoma, USS California, USS West Virginia, USS Utah, USS Maryland, USS Pennsylvania, USS Tennessee and USS Nevada. USS Arizona and USS Utah ships were the only ones unable to be salvaged and repaired after the attack.
On that day, over 2,000 American citizens lost their lives and 1,000 injured, both military personnel and the local population. These attacks led to Canada immediately declaring war on Japan with the United States soon following suit and both joined forces with the European allies to defeat fascist control in World War 2.
Imagine never having seen anything of this magnitude on American soil until this day of infamy. It's hard to imagine now with current past history, such as 9/11, January 6, and the all too frequent mass-shootings, but this was a day that changed all of that for the United States for all time.
Tomorrow, December 7th, 2022, marks the 81st anniversary of the attacks on Pearl Harbour.
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