A Date That Will Live in Infamy…
The morning of December 7, 1941 - seventy years ago today December 7, 2011 - The Japanese sprung a surprise attack on the US Navy at Pearl Harbor Hawaii . Included in the attack were many of the ships docked in the harbor and Hickham Airfield.
Pearl Harbor bombing. California hit. Battered by aerial bombs and tor
pedoes, the USS California settles slowly into the mud and muck of Pearl Harbor. Clouds of black, oily smoke pouring up from the California and her stricken sister ships conceal all but the hull of the capsized USS Oklahoma at the extreme right.
Also suffering from this attack was the naval air station and the airplanes on the ground. A squadron of B17s had just arrived from California and were forced to find some place to land.
Pearl Harbor bombing. Naval air station. This is the wreckage-strewn naval air station at Pearl Harbor following one of the Japanese sneak attacks on the morning of December 7, 1941. In the background, an explosion sends a mass of flames and smoke high in the sky
When all the bombing was over, all eight U.S. Navy battleships were damaged, with four being sunk. All but two of the eight were raised, repaired and returned to service later in the war. The Japanese also sank or damaged three cruisers, three destroyers, an anti-aircraft training ship, and one minelayer. One hundred eighty-eight U.S. aircraft were destroyed; 2,402 Americans were killedand 1,282 wounded
The reaction from the President, Franklin Delano Roosevelt was swift and to the point.
Over the next years, some 14 million Americans would be serving to defeat the enemy in World War II. Thousands would lose their lives and never return to United States soil. They lay at rest around the world in 17 cemteries and those that have never been found are out there still … All to provide the citizens of America the freedoms we enjoy.
Thank you to all who served – “All Gave Some, Some Gave All”
GHTime Code(s): nc
Tags: Franklin Delano Roosevelt, Hawaii, Pearl Harbor, US Navy, WW II
