battlegroundtargets

55.TheAttackonPearlHarborOnDecember7,1941, theUnitedStatesofAmerica wasattacked bytheImperialJapaneseNavy atPearlHarbor,Hawaii. Thesurpriseattack wasintendedtodestroy theAmericanPacificFleet thatstoodintheway ofJapan'scompletedomination ofthePacificOcean duringthe1940s. Theattackwascoordinated withattacksinthePhilippines, Malaysia,Singapore, andHongKong. PearlHarbor wasattacked bymorethan350 Japaneseairplanefighters, bombersandtorpedoplanes thatwerelaunched fromsixaircraftcarriers.Theearly-morningattack sankfourU.S.battleships, andfourmore wereheavilydamaged. Sixoftheeightbattleships wererestored, andreturnedtoservice, buttheJapanesealso destroyed,ordamaged threecruisers, threedestroyers, aminelayer, andananti-aircraft trainingship. Inaddition, 188U.S.aircraft weredestroyed, withmanyofthem ontheground. Theattackwasdevastating. IttooktheU.S. yearstorecover fromallthedamage causedonthatfatefulmorning. However, theJapanesewereunable todestroytheirmaintargets, theNavy'saircraftcarriers. Bywhatsomecall astrokeofluck, theU.S.carrierfleet wasouttosea atthetimeof theattack.Thecountrywasinshock atthenewsofthedisaster. U.S.President FranklinDelanoRoosevelt calledtheattackcowardly, anddeclaredDecember7th as"Adaythatwillliveininfamy." OnDecember8, theUnitedStatesformally declaredwaronJapan. Thisplummetedthecountry intoWorldWarII, whichRoosevelt hadlonghoped toavoid. SoonaftertheUnitedStates' declarationofwar againstJapan,Germany, whichwasaJapaneseally, declaredwarontheU.S. andthecountrywas nowfullyinvolved inthegreatestwar inthehistoryoftheworld.