Pearl Harbor! What REALLY Happened!
By: Ashlyn Perry
How it All Happened
On December 7, 1941, the Japanese attacked the United States at Pearl Harbor a little after 8 am. Over 3,500 Americans were killed or wounded in this attack. All of our Pacific Fleet, 10 other ships, and over 350 aircraft were destroyed. Radar had detected the Japan airplanes, but the warning was not put out soon enough. In September of last year, the United States put an embargo on Japan to stop some of their trade and expanding more into China. U.S., Britain, and the Netherlands froze Japanese assets in June of 1941 so that Japan could no longer receive oil which would make their air force and navy useless. Japan decided that November 29th would be the last day they would accept the United States not declaring war. Japan wanted to expand their country further, but thought that if the U.S. did declare war, that the Pacific Fleet would be their biggest threat. They made a plan for a surprise air attack that would take the Pacific Fleet down, thus leading to the event that occurred on December 7th in Pearl Harbor.