Pearl Harbor

The video Pearl Harbor: Legacy of Attack was very informative and emotional for me. I have heard about Pearl Harbor all my life since my Grandma’s brother died on the USS Oklahoma. Even though I heard about it growing up I really did not know much about it. I am now very interested in talking to my grandparents to learn more about Pearl Harbor and about her brother.

The events of Pearl Harbor began December 7, 1941 and were the multiple attacks on the United States by Japan. Japan wanted to gain the oil fields in the Dutch East Indies, wanted the tin and rubber out of Malaya and the Philippines because of it strategic location and the United States Pacific Fleet stood in the way. And due to this the Japanese believed that they could not conquer the United States but needed to destroy the American Fleet, which would give them time to build a defensive barrier in the Pacific and the United States would give up.

The United States had three different opportunities to stop or help minimize the lives lost at Pearl Harbor. The first was the spotting of a periscope in the water but messages were misunderstood and the wrong place was checked. The second was a spotting of a periscope and conning tower. It was reported but nothing came of it because they could not find anything. And the third was a massive number of aircraft approaching the island from the north. But they were told not to worry about it because it was some of the American B17’s that were coming from the mainland. While all of these could have made the attack a different outcome they were overlooked and the United State suffered great loss.

In the aftermath of Pearl Harbor more than two thousand four hundred lives were lost and one thousand two hundred were wounded. There were also twenty one ships that had been sunk or damaged, including all eight battleships and over three hundred airplanes were no longer operable. But the Japanese failed to destroy any aircraft carriers. The attacks...