The Remembrance of Pearl Harbor

This year, December 7th was the 81st memorial of Pearl Harbor. On December 7th, 1941, there was a surprise attack on the U.S. base at Pearl Harbor on Oahu Island, Hawaii, by the Japanese. At 6 A.M. on a Saturday, Japanese fighter plane’s rushed onto the U.S base their first act of motion and it begun at the first wave of nearly 200 aircrafts including torpedo planes and fighters. They had the upper hand the element of Surprise. The first bombs hit the tip of ford island and the Japanese attack planes continued their brutal attack on the U.S base killing a little over two thousand people. At the time Hawaii was not a state but a territory that belonged to the U.S, a tragedy that killed civilians and ruined a bunch of ships one being the USS Arizona that exploded killing 1,177 officers and crewmen. Although the Japanese did fulfill their hopes of having a “short war” and made sure it took at least six months for the U.S to recover. They failed at being persistent with their aircraft and bombs. They missed oil tanks, ammunition sites and repair facilities. And fortunately for the U.S, not a single aircraft carrier was at Pearl Harbor during the attack. The Japanese had a quick but faulty plan. they missed many crucial opportunities and were faulty with time and execution. But they did destroy or damage 19 U.S navy ships. According to the president at the time president Franklin D. Roosevelt, “I fear all we have done is to awaken a sleeping giant and fill him with a terrible resolve” stating that the Japanese weren’t going to get away with what they have done. Although it happened 81 years ago the memorial for Pearl Harbor is still to this day remembered and the memorial is still set up in Hawaii for Pearl Harbor. It hit the U.S hard and to this day some of us still can’t wrap our heads around how this happened. And how power-hungry people in charge can be, and how little they care about other people’s lives. It’s unfortunate and devastating and will continue to be seeing how easy this all could have been avoided.