December 7, 1941

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"Yesterday, December 7, 1941—a date which will live in infamy—the United States of America was suddenly and deliberately attacked by naval and air forces of the Empire of Japan."
- President Franklin D. Roosevelt

Never forget

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e20pjPDne0I[/youtube]

has it been 67 years already? I wish I could have actually visited there when I was in HI, but never got the chance.

Ah yes, one of a many great days in infamy.

You are right we can and will never forget....Thank you to all those who have and are serving.

And yet a good number of us still drive Japanese cars and watch Japanese cartoons.

America dropped the atom bomb. Pearl Harbor can't even begin to be compare to that. There are wounds on both sides. All I said was never forget. I didn't say to never forgive.

It was a complete failure, both militarily and politically, after all, and that wasn't even a surprise to half the Japanese command. America's real capital ships (the carriers and the modern (fast, triple 16" turret) battleships) weren't at Pearl to be hit, and more were building anyway at a far faster rate than the Empire could manage. The Japanese, fortunately for the world, never had the slightest chance of defeating the Americans.

December 7, 1941.. when the American Pacific Fleet was caught by surprise, in a surprise attack, halfway through a global conflict....

It saddens me that so many good men were killed by poor leadership, but then is that not almost always the case?

Sucker punches in history topic

The Arizona is a tomb.

Surprise attacks are always detested.

if the US didn't use the atom bomb japan would have fought to the last man due to their honour bound way of life, if you think about it from a different perspective america saved japan.

Yes, terrible thing.

I wasn't there but it must've been awful since there were innocent lives lost just as the Hiroshima bombing. I really don't like terrorism or any form of war that especially involves bombs. It kills many lives including those who happen to be there at the wrong time in the wrong place.

I dunno. Somewhere there's this myth that death by Atom Bomb is more horrible than death by anything else. I doubt it matters to the dead. Prior to Hiroshima, we firebombed Tokyo, which resulted in more deaths than either nuke.

In Germany, we firebombed cities, and created the first firestorms, which literally sucked the oxygen out of several German cities. Thousands upon thousands of people died.

However, had we not dropped the bomb, it was estimated it would take another year, and a million American dead, to finally pacify the island. My Dad joined the Navy a week before the end of the war. If it had been otherwise, someone else might be posting here, because it would be good odds that I'd never have been born.

There aren't a lot of spotless reputations following the war. No one had a monopoly on virtue. I do credit us with not using this weapon since that time.

True the North Carolina, South Dakota class Battleships were not at Pearl. However, the battleship lose the title of capital ship when the Battle of Coral Sea occurred (the first carrier to carrier battle). Japan used carrier tactics well but their mindset was the final showdown was to a battleship to battleship naval battle. In the end, Yamamoto knew Japan would lose because the U.S. was an industrial giant that was sleeping and when awaken its full might will come to force.

Parkled,
Actually causality rate for the invasion of Japan, would cause about or more than 250,000 Americans not a million on Kyushu alone. Official declassified reports from 1945 clarify the information. Willoughby's estimate was a million but that his own intelligence staff stated this fact (Army). Leahy's estimate was more than 250,000.
http://www.waszak.com/japanww2.htm

A more historical accurate website: http://www.mikekemble.com/ww2/downfall.html