William Haupt III
“I fear all we have done is to awaken a sleeping giant and fill him with a terrible resolve.”
– Naval Admiral Isoroku Yamamoto, Japanese Commander at Pearl Harbor December 7, 1941
Seventy-eight years ago, on December 7, 1941, a Japanese strike force unleashed 353 warplanes on Pearl Harbor in Hawaii. Relations between the two nations went south when the U.S. stopped exporting oil, metals and other war items to Japan after they invaded China in 1937. The U.S. had not interfered since Japan was a trading partner. But when Japan and Germany signed their Anti-Comintern Pact in 1936, the U.S. considered this necessary to curtail Japan’s assault against the Chinese and their quest to form a world military empire with Germany and Italy. The U.S. went the extra mile to avoid this conflict and was confident their laissez faire foreign policies were working.
The most devastating strike on U.S. soil in history lasted over two hours. Japanese warplanes sank or severely damaged 18 U.S. warships and demolished 200 military aircraft. Over 3,000 American servicemen and civilians tragically sacrificed their lives on this first day through “the gates of hell” on the high seas for freedom.
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