22 Responses

1. Tom Charara says:

   7 December 2012 at 1:14 am

   In response to this, the current president at the time, Franklin D. Roosevelt gave his “Infamy Speech” to congress. Only minutes after the speech was delivered, congress passed the notion to officially declare war on Japan.

   FDR’s speech was short and to the point; congress passing the notion forward though, would mean that the United States was now officially a part of World War II.

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   • Kenneth Lyons says:

     7 December 2012 at 12:38 pm

     Pretty interesting that even back in 1941, the president had the ability to control congress if enough of his supporters were a part of it

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2. Keith Rovin says:

   7 December 2012 at 3:56 pm

   On the morning of December 7, 1941 the first wave of incoming Japanese planes were picked up on a radar at Ft. Shafter’s radar information center. The blips on the radar showed that the Japanese planes were 132 miles away, which would have been far enough away to alert the U.S. Forces and prepare them for the incoming invasion. Unfortunately an officer by the name of Kermit A. Tyler told the radar operator to ignore the blips because he believed they were nothing more than B-17 bombers returning to base. This mistake cost the U.S. dearly and could of changed history if only Kermit A. Tyler reacted differently.

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3. Jalynn Neely says:

   7 December 2012 at 4:11 pm

   Crazy how this happened today about 3 hours ago. The U.S declared war on Japan starting a four year war. This was the start of World War II.

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4. Tiffanie Jones says:

   7 December 2012 at 6:57 pm

   The Japanese had expanded through out a few areas across the world. When they attacked Pearl Harbor in Hawaii, they had made damaged to cruisaders, destroyers, and other large ships. Battle shops were the most prized ships because they were the toughest and best ships in any navy at the time. The Japanese were trying to take control of trade, so the United States decided to put all goods to a screeching haul, which the Japanese did not take lightly on. The only good that did not stop being transported was oil because oil was in high demand anywhere in the world. Later, many American Japanese citizens were transferred and taken from their homes to be put into internment camps in a couple states.

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   • alex mott says:

     10 December 2012 at 1:37 pm

     I think you meant cruisers. The crusaders were religious soldiers who fought to rid jerusalem and surrounding areas of muslims. This religious campaign occurred mostly between 1095 and 1291.

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5. Sara Papp says:

   7 December 2012 at 7:59 pm

   Something I found interesting is that the terrorist attack against the United States was being planned as early as January of 1941. This shows how much time they took planning this. The original target of the Japanese was to be the aircraft carriers; but no plan goes as planned considering all the U.S. aircraft carriers were not on base, the Japanese put there focus on the eight battleships in ocean. My great grandfather had told me that one of the ways the soldiers knew that the attack was the Japanese because of the “meatballs,” which is what they called the red circle on the planes which is also on the flag.

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   • Sara Papp says:

     8 December 2012 at 12:03 pm

     Also in addition this reminds me off the Trojan horse situation, which is when the Greeks sent the Trojan horse and pretended to sail home when there were Greeks hiding in the horse. the reason this reminds me of pearl harbor is because the attackers hit us at home right on a naval base. and the Greeks hit behind the gates into the Trojans kingdom.

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6. Acacia Farley says:

   7 December 2012 at 11:58 pm

   December 7 1941 was one of the most famous days in our American History today. Early in the morning of December 7th, our American naval base was attacked by 353 Japanese fighter planes. The day was so historic that there were many movies that were released, to shed light on this day. There were 188 ships that were destroyed on December 7th. 2,402 American soldiers were killed, and 1,282 were wounded on this day. After the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor later that day the president declared war on Japan, this was the start of World War II.

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7. Sara Papp says:

   8 December 2012 at 12:42 pm

   Something I found interesting is that the terrorist attack against the United States was being planned as early as January of 1941. This shows how much time they took planning this. The original target of the Japanese was to be the aircraft carriers; but no plan goes as planned considering all the U.S. aircraft carriers were not on base, the Japanese put there focus on the eight battleships in ocean. My great grandfather had told me that one of the ways the soldiers knew that the attack was the Japanese because of the “meatballs,” which is what they called the red circle on the planes which is also on the flag. Also in addition this reminds me off the Trojan horse situation, Which when i researched i had found is when the Greeks sent the Trojan horse and pretended to sail home when there were Greeks hiding in the horse. the reason this reminds me of pearl harbor is because the attackers hit us at home right on a naval base. and the Greeks hit behind the gates into the Trojans kingdom.

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8. Mohamed says:

   8 December 2012 at 12:46 pm

   Pearl Harbor actually ties to back to an embargo on oil the United States placed on Japan in August of 1941. 80% of Japan’s oil imports came from the United States. After the embargo was put into play Japan’s only other supplier was Dutch east India. The dutch quickly followed the US in imposing an embargo on oil. Japan was cut off with their backs against the wall they had no choice but to attack the United States though they knew it was a war they would likely lose they had no choice. 4 months after the embargo was placed on oil to Japan they attacked us on December 7th 1941.

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9. Sommer Guy says:

   8 December 2012 at 3:13 pm

   Dec. 7th is my Grandmothers birthday and when this happened she was 11 years old, she remembers this day very clearly and compares it to how scary 9/11 was. 2400 people died in that attack, our retaliation attack left over 140,000 people dead.

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10. Ahmad Jawad says:

    8 December 2012 at 3:23 pm

    What I found interesting about World War 2 was how it lifted the American economy out of the greatest depression the country had ever faced. This war allowed the American factories to transform from whatever good these factories were making at the time to war factories producing boots, guns, planes, etc. It also allowed those factories that were closed to reopen and open new jobs for those that were unemployed.

    But now we must look at the current economic state that we are in and did the war in Iraq or other wars the U.S has fought in recently do the same for our struggling economy, or the complete opposite. Is the spending on war now beneficial to us as a whole? This view is up to the individual dependent upon which political party they support and personal views on the issue.

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11. William Khleif says:

    8 December 2012 at 4:26 pm

    December 7th 1941 is a day we as Americans will never forget. The day after the attack on Pearl Harbor the United States declared war on Japan. This sparked a war between Japan and the United States that lasted 4 years. On 6 August 1945, the U.S. dropped an Atomic bomb on Hiroshima. Following that bombing on 9 August 1945, the U.S. dropped a bomb on Nagasaki. Over 200,000 people in Japan died as a result of these bombings. On 2 September 1945, Japan then surrendered to the U.S. and this brought an end to World War 2.

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12. Muna Dakka says:

    9 December 2012 at 12:36 am

    This post reminds me of the story of Louis Zamperini, an American soldier stationed in Hawaii in World War II. His plane crashed in the Pacific Ocean and he and two of his friends survived and were lost at sea for 47 days. By the end there were only two left including Louis, and they were both captured by the Japanese and held in Japanese POW camps until the end of the war. Louis Zamperini was tortured by a cruel, sadistic Japanese soldier in charge of a camp and nicknamed “the Bird.” He tortured Louis more than other POWs because Louis had been a famous track star and “the Bird” was jealous of Zamperini’s success. “The Bird” felt like a failure because he had not succeeded in becoming a military commander as had been expected by his family. I recommend this biography about Louis Zamperini called “Unbroken” by Laura Hillenbrand.

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13. Tiffanie Jones says:

    9 December 2012 at 1:35 am

    The Great Revolt was the first Jewish-Roman war. The war started in 66 C.E. when a Greek citizen sacrifices a bird in front of a synagogue, a house of prayer, in Caesarea. A Roman did not report or stop the sacrifice which led to some Roman troops guarding the house of prayer. A Roman governor, Gessius Florus, then had explained to the citizens that money was ment for the emperor at the temple. People then wondered around and begged for money mocking Florus, saying the money was for the emperor of the temple ( This was to mock Florus’ wealth). After Florus had heard of the citizens mock, he had the leaders of the city whipped, and later crucified. Many leaders from Syria had take troops and assembled them to fight. Titus, along with his father Emperor Nero, set up troops as well for a new war. This war had ended and led to the Romans victory and the demolishing of the temple in Caesarea.

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14. Trevor Corn says:

    9 December 2012 at 2:23 pm

    It should be noted that although Admiral Isoroku Yamamoto did participate in the raiding of Pearl Harbour, as the article says he was initially against it. In one of his most famous speeches he declares, “Should hostilities once break out between Japan and the United States, it is not enough that we take Guam and the Philippines, nor even Hawaii and San Francisco. To make victory certain, we would have to march into Washington and dictate the terms of peace in the White House. I wonder if our politicians, among whom armchair arguments about war are being glibly bandied about in the name of state politics, have confidence as to the final outcome and are prepared to make the necessary sacrifices.” He clearly felt that Japan was not in a position to simply attack and have no backlash. His opinion did change after a bit, though it was unclear as of why.

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15. Bobby Casler says:

    9 December 2012 at 8:39 pm

    I think a big part of this attack isn’t known by most people. The Japanese planners had determined that some means of rescuing fliers whose aircraft were too badly damaged to return to the carriers was required. The island of Niihau, only 30 minutes flying time from Pearl Harbor, was designated as the rescue point. The Zero flown by Petty Officer Shigenori Nishikaichi of Hiryu was damaged in the attack on Wheeler, and he flew to the rescue point on Niihau. The aircraft was further damaged on landing. Nishikaichi was helped from the wreckage by one of the native Hawaiian inhabitants, who, aware of the tension between the United States and Japan, took the pilot’s maps and other documents. The island’s residents had no telephones or radio and were completely unaware of the attack on Pearl Harbor. Nishikaichi enlisted the support of two Japanese-American residents in an attempt to recover the documents. During the ensuing struggles, Nishikaichi was killed, one collaborator committed suicide, and his wife was sent to prison. The ease with which the local ethnic Japanese residents apparently went to the assistance of Nishikaichi was a source of concern for many, and tended to support those who believed that local Japanese could not be trusted.

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16. Heather Daugherty says:

    9 December 2012 at 10:20 pm

    On Dec 7th, 43 BC Marcus Tullius Cicero, also known as “Tully,” was murdered. The first half of the 1st century BC was chaotic and was under the dictatorship of Julius Caesar. Much to Tully’s surprise the Liberators assassinated Caesar in 44 BC. He then took the lead, alongside Mark Antony. In the power struggle, Cicero attacked Antony in a series of famous speeches called the Phillippics. He spun lies about Antony for petty charges, and had volunteers forge arms for the supporters of the Republic. Word got back to Antony, and the scheme was found so insulting to him and his supporters so they prepared to to march on Rome and arrest Cicero. He fled the city and all plans were abandoned.
    Cicero’s plan to drive out Antony fail, and instead was a condemned man. He was wanted and was proscribed as an enemy of the state by the Second Triumvirate and was murdered on December 7th, 43 BC.

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17. Gary L. Johnson says:

    9 December 2012 at 10:34 pm

    Well, this post brought up a very interesting idea that I’m surprised hasn’t been mentioned. This was one of the first times that we have had to face the issue of people willing to kill themselves to damage their countries enemies. Kamikaze attacks were a common form of attack for Japanese aircrafts. Kamikaze attacks were a form of suicidal attack where Japanese pilots would crash their aircrafts into enemy ships after using their ammo or until they reached a point where flying was no longer an option. This form of attack is also what made the attack on Pearl Harbor so efficient at destroying our ships instead of just damaging them. A ship shot full of holes is repairable. A ship that has had a plane crash into it is not.
    It’s rather interesting how we’re facing a different group of people willing to kill themselves to hurt us now. Japanese kamikaze attacks then, suicide bombers from the middle east now.

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18. James Key says:

    10 December 2012 at 1:46 pm

    Hector C Bywater was an english journalist and military strategist who wrote “The Great Pacific War” in 1923. In his book, Bywater stated that there would be a clash between Imperial Japan and the United States. He predicted that the battles would begin in the Philippines, and that Japan would attempt to win the war before it began with a single devastating strike. He also predicted that the U.S. would respond with an island hopping campaign to take the Pacific island by island. Hector died of unknown causes one year after the start of the war. Some people attribute his alcoholism to his death, but some skeptics insinuate that Yamamoto and other Japanese leaders had Bywater assassinated so that he couldn’t advise the U.S. during the war. After the war, both the Allied and Axis forces said his book was a great resource for military strategy during the war.

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19. Paul Gutu says:

    13 December 2012 at 11:37 am

    December 7, 1941. A day that will forever be taught in any history class. Although we were going to enter the war, I’m sure nobody was prepared to be attacked in such a way. Kamikaze pilots weren’t seen in combat before by the Americans and it was a whole new ball game for us to defend ourselves against that.

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