by Josh Peffer

Created on: December 16, 2009

          “Pearl Harbor was the worst single naval defeat in American history.  The attack was over in less than two hours, but the war that began that day was to continue for nearly four years.  Few expected Japan, a small nation with limited resources, to attack a nation as big and powerful as the United States.” (Harry Mazer, page 99)

          Pearl Harbor, a major naval base for the United States, was attack on December 7,1941.  The attack was on the island of Oahu.  The most populated Hawaiian island.  100,000 American soldiers, army, navy, and marines, were stationed here.  This is one the most devastating attacks on the United States ever to happen.  There attack killed more than 3000 men, not including civilian losses.  Japan lost less than 100 men.  More than half of these men were lost in the battleship, Arizona.  According to Harry Mazer, “five battleships were sunk, and three destroyers and three light cruisers were damaged.  Japan lost only one full-size submarine and five midget submarines that had been probing the water around Pearl Harbor.  The main Japanese fleet itself escaped undetected.”(Harry Mazer, page 99).  Also, 164 U.S. aircraft were destroyed.  Most of these were on the ground.  In addition to these, 159 were badly damaged.  The Japanese lost only 29 planes, most shot down by anti-aircraft guns.  A few were shot down by U.S. aircraft that managed to get airborne. 

          Most of this damage, though bad as it seems, was eventually repaired.  All but three of the ships were refloated.  Most of the aircraft were also salvaged.  The big fuel reserves and naval repair yards on Oahu were also undamaged.

          The attack on Pearl Harbor was one that raised many contradictions.  The Japanese people living in the U.S. were thought to be in league with the Japanese in Japan.  Almost one third of the population of Hawaii was Japanese.  Most of these were Japanese that had lived there for years and where denied citizenship, but there kids where citizens of the U.S.  These AJA’s, as they were called, were rounded up and sent to internment camps.  Or so that’s what was supposed to happen.  Since they were one-third

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