75th anniversary of the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor

[Commander Wallace]

Today marks the solemn occasion of the 75th anniversary of the attack on Pearl Harbor. 2,403 Americans were killed and 1200 were wounded during the sneak attack on Pearl Harbor on Dec. 7, 1941. It was a date 75 years ago that then President Franklin D. Roosevelt would call a date which would live in Infamy. A memorial exists for The USS Arizona over the sunken battleship. There were a great many ships damaged or sunk which was aimed at destroying the Pacific Battleship forces. The carriers were not at Pearl Harbor at the time of the attack.


The sneak attack ushered in the entry of the U.S into WW2. On a side note.

Quote: Edwin Chester Hopkins' casket was draped with an American flag that had hung above the state Capitol. Boy Scouts saluted as the motorcade weaved around the colonial town square to the cemetery, where a military bugler readied to play taps in the dappled sunlight of a cool autumn day.

Hopkins was one of 2,403 Americans killed during the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor on Dec. 7, 1941.It was a grand funeral, one of the most memorable this New England town had witnessed, for a young man who had perished just past his 19th birthday. All that was lacking were the copious tears one would expect for someone whose death was so tragic and premature.

http://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/the...cid=spartandhp

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_o...cember_7,_1941





This is a good time to recognize the sacrifices of not only those lost at Pearl Harbor but also to recognize the efforts and sacrifices of those in all branches of service not only in the U.S but also those in the U.K, Australia, Canada and other countries to bring about the end of WW2.

May they never be assembled again for such a purpose.

[August]

Originally Posted by Commander Wallace

May they never be assembled again for such a purpose.

Yet may they always remain ready to assemble if the need should arise again.

[Onkel Neal]

Pearl harbor: changed the world

[Jimbuna]

Yep, certainly a day that will live in infamy as well as the fact it is the anniversary of my fathers passing.

[Aktungbby]

Considering that Pearl Harbor was partially the delayed result, set in motion, of Teddy Roosevelt, former assistant SEC of Navy sending the Great White Fleet in 1907:

In the early years of the 20th century, Pearl Harbor remained more of an outpost than the major naval base it would become in the years leading up to World War II. The islands had no oil or coal, and U.S. ships did not make it a permanent base. “Everything the Navy needed had to be imported from the West Coast,”
It was a high point for the Navy and American global power. President Theodore Roosevelt ordered the Great White Fleet, consisting of 16 battleships, to circumnavigate the globe in 1907. Among the young officers participating in the cruise was Adm. Husband Kimmel, who would be commander of the U.S. Pacific Fleet when Pearl Harbor was attacked more than three decades later.
The base expanded gradually during the early part of the 20th century. By 1911, the channel to Pearl Harbor had been dredged enough to allow large vessels to navigate it, according to the Navy history. The USS California was the first deep-draft ship to navigate the channel. It is forgotten that Kimmel's fleet was not there to protect Pearl Harbor. The Harbor was there merely as a fuel and supply base for it. That fleet had a task assigned to it in case of war. The protection of the base would be the duty of the army and the base naval installations. We do not know what the task assigned to Kimmel was. But it is certain that had the Japanese overlooked Pearl Harbor and struck at the Philippines or Singapore alone, Kimmel and his fleet would have been off to sea instantly. Kimmel was preparing for the war task assigned to him, not merely for the protection of Pearl Harbor.

http://nypost.com/2016/12/05/japanese-prime-minister-to-visit-pearl-harbor-for-the-first-time/

“President Obama will meet with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe in Honolulu, Hawaii, on December 27, 2016. The meeting will be an opportunity for the two leaders to review our joint efforts over the past four years to strengthen the US-Japan alliance, including our close cooperation on a number of security, economic, and global challenges,” a statement from the White House press secretary announced Monday morning.
“The President will also accompany Prime Minister Abe to the USS Arizona Memorial at Pearl Harbor to honor those killed. The two leaders’ visit will showcase the power of reconciliation that has turned former adversaries into the closest of allies, united by common interests and shared values,” the announcement added.

https://www.antiwar.com/rep/flynn1.html It only remained for his distant cousin, also an assistant SEC of the Navy, Franklin Roosevelt to finish the job..

There is a story of profound importance yet to be told about the state of peace so far as America was concerned before Pearl Harbor. Certainly we had not declared war. But we had sent an army across the sea to Iceland to join the British army there; we had been sending arms, ammunition and destroyers and planes as a gift to Britain and France and China. We had been with our warships hunting down German submarines for British planes and even bombing them. On November 25, W. Averill Harriman, the President's agent in London, said: "The United States Navy is shooting the Germans – German submarines and aircraft at sea." And on September 20, 1941, a dispatch from Hyde Park reported that "More than half of the United States Navy is forced to remain in the Pacific at a time when the United States is operating against German and Italian submarines and air raiders in the Atlantic." In the Pacific we had cut off all shipments and trade of essential materials with Japan and frozen and seized here $130,000,000 of her funds, which Walter Lippmann called "a declaration of economic warfare." We had sent an American military mission to China and an American economic adviser to Chiang Kai-shek. We had sent General Chennault with a large number of American army fliers to China to fight with Chiang's army. His intrusions into operations of the Navy were more frequent because, while Roosevelt had, under the influence of flatterers who surrounded him, come to think of himself as a master of diplomacy, an expert in political economy, an adept in political manipulation, a wizard in public finance, a profound student of foreign affairs and a military strategist of large dimensions, he regarded himself as little less than a genius in naval organization and direction. At the Atlantic Charter meeting, Churchill had urged Roosevelt to send an ultimatum to Japan at once. He replied saying: "Let me baby her along for another three months."

GEN Short and ADM Kimmel should each get their two stars back posthumously; and FDR should be impeached posthumously. Lesson learned: no one should be president for four terms and no war ever planned is ever fought on 'PLAN A'! We learned this the hard way at Pearl Harbor; the Japs would learn it the very next year at Midway....ironically using ADM Kimmel's plan!

[Rockin Robbins]

Had it not been for FDR, violating the Constitution, taking powers not his, seeing the real situation of the world and doing what was necessary, we probably would have sat out the war and watched the Nazis take over Europe and appeased Japan to do whatever we had to to stay out of war.

To my mind, Roosevelt was a hero, doing what heroes do: ignoring the rules and doing the right thing in spite of them. Imagine having to fight both the Germans and the Japanese five or ten years later. And the would have happened.

Thank God Roosevelt made the decisions to pay the price of victory while we could still afford it.

[Skybird]

"Certainty" will probably never be known about what led to Japan'S decision to strike at Pearl Harbour. As they say: history is written by the victor, he makes sure his history becomes legend, and legends tend to become myth if given enough time.

That Japan and America stand together against NK and CHN - that is what counts now. Not the dead past.

[August]

Hitler to Tojo Dec 8th 1941: "I told you to attack the usSR not the usA Dumkopf!"

[Catfish]

From AktungBby, quoting
John T. Flynn, October 1945 –

To back up what i wrote to Jim regarding the sinking of the »Reuben James« in the "This date in history" thread:

"There is a story of profound importance yet to be told about the state of peace so far as America was concerned before Pearl Harbor. Certainly we had not declared war. But we had sent an army across the sea to Iceland to join the British army there; we had been sending arms, ammunition and destroyers and planes as a gift to Britain and France and China. *We had been with our warships hunting down German submarines for British planes and even bombing them."

*Before a declaration of war. The sinking of the »Reuben James« by Topp did not happen intentionally. It was not even a retaliation.


Back on topic, regarding Pearl Harbour and what was known, or expected "The cruise of the Lanikai" is also an interesting book.

Saw this over at SimHQ, interesting pictures, though one seems a bit off:
http://mashable.com/2016/12/07/attac.../#925G9NkMokqs

[Mr Quatro]

I ask that the Congress declare that since the unprovoked and dastardly attack by Japan on Sunday, December seventh, a state of war has existed between the United States and the Japanese Empire.

Franklin D. Roosevelt, The White House
December 8th, 1941

[fireftr18]

Events we must always remember. More importantly, remember the events that lead up to the attack.

A big thank you and salute to those who fought in the war to secure freedom for the world.

[Oberon]

The Japanese certainly displayed 'professional brilliance' and 'technological power'.

[gimpy117]

ahoy gents!. I'm wondering if they ever found all of the mini subs

[Aktungbby]

Originally Posted by gimpy117

ahoy gents!. I'm wondering if they ever found all of the mini subs

NO Five Midget submarines were launched from I-Class mother subs, at the entrance to the harbor. The five Midgets took part in the attack, but history was unclear as to what degree. Remains of two of the midget subs were located shortly after the attack.The third was located by Navy divers in 1960. The fourth, sunk by the USS Ward prior to the air assault, was located by HURL in 2002. That left the last of the midget submarines, and the full story of the underwater attack at Pearl Harbor, still something of a mystery. Of some interest: &

[Jimbuna]

Originally Posted by Rockin Robbins

Had it not been for FDR, violating the Constitution, taking powers not his, seeing the real situation of the world and doing what was necessary, we probably would have sat out the war and watched the Nazis take over Europe and appeased Japan to do whatever we had to to stay out of war.

To my mind, Roosevelt was a hero, doing what heroes do: ignoring the rules and doing the right thing in spite of them. Imagine having to fight both the Germans and the Japanese five or ten years later. And the would have happened.

Thank God Roosevelt made the decisions to pay the price of victory while we could still afford it.

Pretty much how I see it and the majority of the UK I should imagine