Pearl Harbor: The Day of Infamy

December 7, 1941. A date which will live in infamy. Roosevelt's words captured the shock. The Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor without warning. Two waves of aircraft, 353 in total, descended on the naval base. The battleships lined up along Battleship Row were the primary targets. The Arizona exploded when a bomb penetrated its forward magazine. It sank in minutes, taking 1,177 sailors with it. The Oklahoma capsized. The California, West Virginia, Nevada, all hit. In two hours, the Pacific Fleet was crippled. Over 2,400 Americans dead. The Japanese hoped to destroy the American fleet and force a negotiated peace. They miscalculated badly. The attack united America. The isolationists who had opposed entering the war were silenced. Congress declared war on Japan the next day. Germany declared war on America days later. The war was now truly global. For the Americans who lived through it, Pearl Harbor was a moment that divided time. Before the attack and after. Everything changed. Young men rushed to enlist. Factories shifted to war production. America was at war, and it would not stop until victory was won.