71 Years Ago Today…

Posted on by March 6, 2013


On 7 December 1941, in one of the defining moments in U.S. history, the Japanese attacked the U.S. Pacific Fleet, and nearby military airfields and installations, based at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, and removed the U.S. Navy’s battleship force as a possible threat to the Japanese Empire’s southward expansion. The U.S. was now brought into World War II as a full combatant.

Naval Base Pearl Harbor was attacked by 353 Japanese fighters, bombers and torpedo planes in two waves, launched from six aircraft carriers.  All eight U.S. Navy battleships were damaged, with four being sunk.

Two were raised, and with four repaired, six battleships returned to service later in the war. The Japanese also sank or damaged three cruisers, three destroyers, an anti-aircraft training ship, and one minelayer.  188 U.S. aircraft were destroyed; 2,402 Americans were killed and 1,282 wounded.

Japanese losses were comparatively light. Twenty-nine planes, less than 10 percent of the attacking force, failed to return to their carriers.

The Japanese success was overwhelming, but it was not complete.  They failed to damage any American aircraft carriers, which by a stroke of luck, had been absent from the harbor. They neglected to damage the shoreside facilities at the Pearl Harbor Naval Base, which played an important role in the Allied victory in World War II.

American technological skill raised and repaired all but three of the ships sunk or damaged at Pearl Harbor. Most importantly, the shock and anger caused by the surprise attack on Pearl Harbor united a divided nation and was translated into a wholehearted commitment to victory in World War II.

– – – – This is part of the legacy we should work to uphold and honor every day as Americans, whether it’s PC or not, it’s reality…

And thanks to Bob, THIS story about a gent who survived Pearl Harbor and who’s spent his life trying to put names to the un-named dead from Pearl Harbor!

And for the aviation buffs, THIS link contains a lot of pictures from all services before/during WWII.  Wish I’d found this when I did the earlier post on aircraft in WWII.

RIP Lloyd B. Curtis, and Lyle C. Curtis. you will never be forgotten…

Comments

71 Years Ago Today… — 9 Comments

  1. A long memory is necessary to keeping America safe and free. Peace requires superior firepower. The lesson of Pearl Harbor couldn’t be more compelling.

  2. It’s easy for people to flash around pictures of the twin towers and say “Never Forget” because it happened in their lifetime.

    I’ve been to the Memorial, I’ve seen a distant relative’s name inscribed on the wall, and I’ve felt the haunted atmosphere. That’s something that I will never forget, and I hope I never stop honoring all of those who have given their lives for our country.

    RIP Robert Fulton, A.M. 1c USS Arizona

  3. Thanks. Sent the link to my father in law. The old SBD flyer loved that aircraft.

    Gerry

  4. General Billy Mitchell was vindicated in his prediction some twenty years earlier that the Japanese would attack Pearly Harbor. But the US Army still cashiered him. Of course, later, they gave him THE Medal posthumously (of course) and hailed him as an American genius, restoring his rank and his memory.

    Our nation delights in crushing the true visionaries. I’m not sure why. Perhaps it’s simply what we do – human nature.

    The Japanese didn’t crush Isoroku Yamamoto, Commander-in-Chief of the Imperial Japanese Navy, but they didn’t listen to him either. He’d been to America as a defense attache and knew what they were up against.

    Japanese politicians (men with really huge egos and not so much common sense) had a different view – to their detriment.

    Nothing ever changes. Just the names.

  6. My uncle was in the West Virginia that morning.
    He manned a gun turret to shoot back and was trapped in that turret when a bomb torqued and twisted the ship. He decided to continue shooting and die fighting.
    Another bomb or torpedo flung the turret door open and he and two other crewmembers found themselves on the deck of an abandoned, sinking ship. They signalled over to the adjacent “Tennessee”, got their attention, then walked hand-over-hand on a line shot over to them. He was reported “missing in action” to my grandmother for two weeks until they counted noses and determined who was alive.
    He died ten years ago and his ashes were spread on the West side of Ford Island near the “Utah” memorial.
    He spent his life in the Navy, and I never really knew him.
    But I’m still proud of the hero in my family tree.