Today is National Pearl Harbor Day a very sad and terrible day for our country.
On November 26, 1941, a Japanese task force (the Striking Force) of six aircraft carriers Akagi, Kaga, Sōryū, Hiryū, Shōkaku, and Zuikaku departed northern Japan en route to a position northwest of Hawaii, intending to launch its 408 aircraft to attack Pearl Harbor.
The attack commenced at 7:48 a.m. on Sunday December 7, 1941 when the Imperial Japanese Navy Air Service attacked the Naval Station Pearl Harbor in Honolulu, Hawaii, without warning and without a declaration of war, killing 2,403 American non-combatants, and injuring 1,178 others.
The attack sank two U.S. Navy battleships and damaged five others. It also damaged three cruisers, three destroyers, and one minelayer. Aircraft losses were 188 destroyed and 159 damaged. Canada declared war on Japan within hours of the attack on Pearl Harbor, the first Western nation to do so.
The attack came as a profound shock to the American people and on December 8, 1941 the United States declared war on Japan and entered World War II on the side of the Allies. In a speech to Congress, President Franklin D. Roosevelt called the bombing of Pearl Harbor "a date which will live in infamy".
Although Pearl Harbor Day is not a federal holiday – government offices, schools, and businesses do not close. Some organizations may hold special events in memory of those killed or injured in the attack.
Mid America Live News
