A Day That Will Live in Infamy

Today is the 67th Anniversary of the Attack on Pearl Harbor by armed forces of the Empire of Japan. Some facts about the attack:

• The attack began at 7:55 local time on a quiet Sunday morning just like this Sunday morning


• The attack came in two waves: an initial wave of 183 planes and a second wave of 167 planes


• The imperial armed forces had put some thought into this: they included a fleet of midget submarines that launched specially modified torpedoes that could wreak their havoc in the shallow Hawaiian waters


• When it was done, the results were devastating to the United States:


• 21 of 96 ships had been destroyed, many of the others severely damaged


• A gun magazine exploded aboard the USS Arizona, when the ship was struck by a torpedo. It went down in 9 minutes taking the lives of nearly 1,200 men


• Of the nearly 400 aircraft at the three nearby air bases--Hickam, Wheeler and Bellows--almost half had been destroyed and over 150 of the remaining 200 were damaged, a near wipeout


• There were 3,648 casualties, including 2,400 deaths--a death toll not seen again on American soil until the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001


• The next day, Dec. 8, 1941 United States President Franklin D. Roosevelt asked the U.S. Congress for a Declaration of War on the Empire of Japan.


• Admiral Yamamoto, the mastermind of the Japanese attack, had been educated at Harvard University. There he closely studied the character and makeup of the American people. His warning to his fellow brass when they were planning the attack: They'd get one chance at taking out the Americans. For the attack to be successful would have to be complete and overwhelming. It wasn't.
• It was a devastating blow--but not a knockout punch.


• The Japanese attack failed to destroy the American aircraft carriers which were out to sea at the time of the attack. As we know know, aircraft carriers became the critical piece in the Pacific War.


• All but 3 of the 21 American ships sunk that Sunday were quickly refitted and sailed again under the American flag.


• Within a couple of years the tide in the Pacific had turned.

Just thought you might like to know.