By It was 80 years ago that the Japanese invaded America. With only a handful of veterans still alive who witnessed the attack first hand it was a sight they would never eradicate from their minds. The destruction was huge as ships were sunk and planes were bombed even before they could make ready for the counter attack. Komikazi pilots took aim and sacrificed their life for that of dozens of our soldiers. The strike was unfathomable. No one in our intelligence saw that raid as a possibility at the time. Later the next day President Roosevelt would go on national radio announcing the invasion as a “day that will live in infamy”.. This was no exaggeration as he declared war on the Japanese.
The attack came from 4 Japanese warships with 353 planes flying to the drop sight at 7:55am. In less than one hour and a half the attack was over. Of the 22 ships in port 4 were sunk as well as 189 military planes of ours perished in the attack before most could take flight to fight against this surprise attack.
Today the few dozen soldiers who survived will be there to honor their fallen comrades and remember what they went through to survive the chaos. Pearl Harbor did survive the attack and rebuilt to be a much tougher place to infiltrate. They updated technologies and re-evaluated how they maintained the fleet their in case of any other attack we would not lose so many of our men and machines.
The Japanese had submarines, oilers and cruisers, a full fleet to mount the attack which took 2,403 U.S. Personal of which 68 were civilians. One Japanese soldier was taken prisoner, 129 were killed in battle. The U.S.S. Arizona remains under water to this day and is a memorial to all those who sacrificed their lives that day. Millions of visitors from around the world have visited Pearl harbor throughout the years to observe and pay their respect as they roam the memorial dedicated to December 7, 1941, a day that did in fact live in infamy.
We take this time to remember and honor all those who suffered loss of life and family. It will be remembered forever we are sure. Let us not forget all the sacrifices our defenders of the greatest nation in the World must endure. Thank you all.
