Pearl Harbor Day '08
Sunday, December 7, 1941...a day that will live in infamy....It is the day that Japan attacked Pearl Harbor, Hawaii and ushered the US into WWII.
It has become somewhat of a tradition for me to observe this day by watching one of the (if not "the") most historically accurate movies about PHD - that being "Tora! Tora! Tora!".
The phrase "Tora! Tora! Tora!" (which means "Tiger! Tiger! Tiger!" in Japanese) was the code phrase that was to be used by the attacking Japanese planes that they had caught the Americans completely by surprise. The Japanese attack plan called for their ambassadors in Washington, DC to present to the US a declaration of war by the Japanese before the attack began. Unfortunately for the Japanese, the declaration of war was delivered late - after the attack had already begun.
Up until September 11, 2001, the attack on Pearl Harbor was the largest loss of American lives in any single attack, with 2,403 dead (an additional 1,178 Americans were wounded in the attack). Most of those who died were sailors (2,008), though there were a few marines (109), soldiers (218), and even civilians (68).
Prior to the attack, America was a nation divided. For the most part, we were isolationist, not wanting to get involved with the war. But several in our government, including FDR, believed that we needed to get involved...and soon. If the attack had not occurred, it's hard to say what might have become history. But the attack did occur and it did something that nothing else before it was able to do - it brought nearly all of America together in a common cause. The declaration of war on Japan was a nearly unanimous vote in congress (the senate was unanimous and only the representative from Montana dissented).
If you want to know some of the "stories behind the story" of the attack on Pearl Harbor, see "Tora! Tora! Tora!" if you've not already done so. It doesn't cover all of them, of course, but then, I doubt any movie could.
It has become somewhat of a tradition for me to observe this day by watching one of the (if not "the") most historically accurate movies about PHD - that being "Tora! Tora! Tora!".
The phrase "Tora! Tora! Tora!" (which means "Tiger! Tiger! Tiger!" in Japanese) was the code phrase that was to be used by the attacking Japanese planes that they had caught the Americans completely by surprise. The Japanese attack plan called for their ambassadors in Washington, DC to present to the US a declaration of war by the Japanese before the attack began. Unfortunately for the Japanese, the declaration of war was delivered late - after the attack had already begun.
Up until September 11, 2001, the attack on Pearl Harbor was the largest loss of American lives in any single attack, with 2,403 dead (an additional 1,178 Americans were wounded in the attack). Most of those who died were sailors (2,008), though there were a few marines (109), soldiers (218), and even civilians (68).
Prior to the attack, America was a nation divided. For the most part, we were isolationist, not wanting to get involved with the war. But several in our government, including FDR, believed that we needed to get involved...and soon. If the attack had not occurred, it's hard to say what might have become history. But the attack did occur and it did something that nothing else before it was able to do - it brought nearly all of America together in a common cause. The declaration of war on Japan was a nearly unanimous vote in congress (the senate was unanimous and only the representative from Montana dissented).
If you want to know some of the "stories behind the story" of the attack on Pearl Harbor, see "Tora! Tora! Tora!" if you've not already done so. It doesn't cover all of them, of course, but then, I doubt any movie could.
posted by TubaMeister at
13:53
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