As the sun rose one calm, December morning over an American Naval base in 1941, United States history changed forever. Dec. 7 now marks the anniversary of the Pearl Harbor bombing in Honolulu, Hawaii. Just before 8 a.m. that morning, the Japanese attacked the well-known naval base, killing more than 2,000 and wounding 1,000 in just two hours after the first strike. Ships out in the water were pounded with torpedoes and bombs falling from the sky. Twenty ships were sunk, only nine were able to be salvaged and repaired, and a few still remain under the water. The attack also took down more than 300 aircraft vessels along with the water fleet. Not only did this attack leave the United States shocked and devastated, it introduced the country into World War II.
After the attack, it is alleged that Japanese leader Isoroku Yamamoto said, “I fear all we have done is to awaken a sleeping giant.” Although peace negotiations were shuffled back and forth between the United States and Japan during the entire year of 1941, Japan had started planning the Pearl Harbor attack in the early spring. Caught off guard by the attack, the United States had no defense tactics to put in place before the attack was over. The one thing the United States managed to get ahead of was their declaration of war since the message Yamamoto sent to be delivered to the Japanese Embassy in Washington was not transcribed in time. This meant that even though the notification somewhat indicated a declaration of war, the United States was the first to formally declare it.
These attacks have had a big impact on American History. Not only could the country have stayed out of the war, but the creation of Japanese Internment Camps would never have existed, over 2,000 people would have lived a longer life, and the U.S. would not have bombed Hiroshima to end the war.
Today, the site of the attack remains a constant reminder of what happened that Sunday morning in Hawaii. Shipwreck still remains, including the memorial of the USS Arizona, which straddles the ship still sitting under water. Over a million Americans, marines, veterans, and Japanese citizens visit the memorial every year in remembrance of over half of the lives lost in one ship.
The 75th Anniversary of the attack came last week, and a few veterans who were Marine Corps during the disaster attended the memorial in Honolulu. President Barack Obama was not able to make the memorial service, but will be meeting at the end of December with the first ever Japanese Prime Minister to visit Pearl Harbor since the attack. There will be no apology for the past events, but the leader, Shinzo Abe, says, “We must never repeat the tragedy of war.” The U.S. has also never apologized for the Hiroshima attack, and Abe added, “I would like to send a message of reconciliation between Japan and the U.S.”
Seventy-five years proves to be a long stretch of time for reconciliation, but the past 75 years have also left deep scars for the heart-broken families who endured a great loss that December morning in 1941. A common ending to an American tragedy–gone but never forgotten.
