Every year, Pearl Harbor survivors, veterans and visitors from around the world gather to honor and remember the servicemen and civilians who died during the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor.
Many more people were injured in the attack, which permanently sank two US Navy battleships (USS Arizona and USS Utah), as well as destroying 188 aircraft.
When is the anniversary of Pearl Harbor?
On August 23, 1994, the United States Congress designated December 7 as National Pearl Harbor Remembrance Day, following the attack on December 7, 1941.
Each year, commemorative events are held at the Pearl Harbor National Memorial, culminating in a memorial ceremony on December 7.
That day was reason enough for the United States to declare war on Japan the following day and thus enter World War II.
On Pearl Harbor Day, the U.S. flag should be flown at half-staff until sunset, honoring those who died as a result of the attack on U.S. military forces in Hawaii.
However, Pearl Harbor Day is not a federal holiday: government offices, schools and businesses do not close. Some organizations may hold special events in memory of the dead and wounded at Pearl Harbor.
What happened in the attack on Pearl Harbor and how many people died?
On Sunday, December 7, 1941, during the early morning hours, the Imperial Japanese Navy Air Service attacked the United States, which until then had remained neutral during World War II.
The attack was on Pearl Harbor Naval Station near Honolulu, Hawaii, killing 2,403 Americans and wounding 1,178 others.
The attack sank four US Navy battleships and damaged four others. It also damaged three cruisers, three destroyers and a minelayer. Aircraft losses were 188 destroyed and 159 damaged.
Famous quotes after the attack on Pearl Harbor
A day after the Japanese attack on the US island, then US President Franklin D. Roosevelt declared in what is now known as the “infamy speech”:
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.
Franklin D. Roosevelt
The United States declared war on the Empire of Japan, and with his speech, Roosevelt managed to excite the emotions of Americans and isolationism, which until then had predominated among public opinion and the political class, disappeared completely. The battle cry “Remember Pearl Harbor” galvanized the whole country
On the other hand, Japanese Admiral Isoroku Yamamoto, who was responsible for the attack on the US base at Pearl Harbor in December 1941, said:
I think we have awakened a sleeping giant. Its response will be terrifying.
Isoroku Yamamoto
Yamamoto also predicted that a war between the United States and Japan would be long, and that the United States would not stop while Japan won, and so it was.