More of a surprise attack. We had been edging toward war for a long time.The Japs were ruthless during WWII and were responsible for many war crimes. More American POWS died Under Japan than all other sides combined.
Read Japan and the path to war in this link...
https://www.history.com/topics/world-war-ii/pearl-harbor
It was a ruthless attack, The Japanese were hellbent on dominating the entire Eastern hemisphere, ( resources, resources, resources) as much as Nazi Germany were in the west. Put the USN and Royal Navy out of action in the Pacific and the Western seaboard was there for the taking. In many ways the Japanese made the Nazis look like boyscouts in the treatment of prisoners and civilians. Can you imagine if they took California, Oregon and Washington State etc...... Doesn't bare thinking about (The rape of Nanking). Pure evil.
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Amen, Barry! We got lucky that day though. Our carriers were all at sea. The Pacific campaign was mainly fought by and won by carriers.
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That is one long supply line from Japan to the US West coast.
shareOnly unprovoked in the sense that I think Roosevelt knew that the Japanese would take the movement of the Pacific Fleet from San Diego to Oahu as a threat. Outside of that no provocation as we did not harass Japanese Navy movements while undergoing operations in SE Asia.
shareHow about the embargo against Japan,it was the final straw for them
shareNo. We offered a very palatable way out for Japan which was to give up territorial ambitions in China among other things. It's very possible things might have progressed had Japan agreed to reduce its ambitions to the point where the US would have assisted in negotiating trade agreements that Japan could have gotten to where it was by the 1980's as a major producer of finished goods but decades earlier. If you do not want to look at it from that perspective then Japan had more issues with Great Britain as Japan needed resources present in SE Asia that GB controlled. Yes, the Dutch had resources at stake but lacked the military might to resist Japan and perhaps little might have been said if the Dutch had lost a little territory in Asia.
shareThat cowardly act of mass murder was unprovoked
The Empire of Japan destroyed 19 of our ships, 200 aircraft and slaughtered 2,400 Americans that day
That day is STILL a big deal over here
Their murderous sneak attack was the stupidest thing they could have done...they should have just collectively put a gun in their mouths and saved everybody a hell of a lot of trouble
Japan was aggressively expansionist and hungry for resources...we knew what they were up to in China ( they were using little babies for target practice, enslaving the Asian mainland and building rape camps where they abused tens of thousands of Chinese women and small girls)
We shut off trade with them (coal, steel...) because we didnt want to help them continue their Asian Holocaust
So they attacked Pearl to wipe out our fleet and continued their madness
Every neighborhood in America lost a fine boy fighting those mosters in jungle hell places we had never heard of and we had to come up with the biggest bomb ever to stop them
Jeez...we had to whack them twice before they would calm down
I dont give a damn if they felt provoked...they were on a mad tear and they got wasted as a result
Im glad they are well behaved allies of ours now but i still remember the horror stories my Grandma and her brothers (both US Marines) told us about fighting the Empire of Japan
Forget 'provoking' man
Monsters need to be killed
I am glad you mentioned the atrocities against China as Japan's intent was far more sinister than playing a real life version of the board game RISK. China did not offer a lot in the way of resources so there was no doubt the intent of reducing the Chinese population in a graphic horrific manner.
shareIm pretty sure Manchuria was rich in mineral resources...silver, coal etc
As for Japan's treatment of the Chinese i doubt our greatest horror movie directors could create more terrifying scenarios
They behaved like no men ever should during the invasion of China
Japan awoke a sleeping giant after attacking Pearl Harbor....
shareIm still astonished that they thought that they would get away with such a disgusting, cowardly act of war
They left a bunch of us alive and they paid hell for it
Im glad that we are all freindly again but i wont forget my Uncle's stories
Not in this lifetime
Where did he serve in the Pacific if you don't mind me asking? I've read a lot of the many battles that took place during WWII.
shareTwo of my great-uncles fought the Japanese with the USMC
It was during the island hopping campaign and they were never specific about the places...i was a kid when they told me the stories so i honestly cant remember if they mentioned place names
Those were Grandma's brothers
OUTSTANDING response, Shogie! Couldn't have said it better myself. The Japs got what they deserved! Croft really stepped in it with this post.
It's interesting. I told my late Mom after 9/11 that my generation FINALLY understood and appreciated what her generation felt after that cowardly, dastardly sneak attack on Pearl Harbor. Ironically enough even the casualties were on a similar scale.
And I understand the horror stories your Grandma and her brother told. They are TRUE. I started reading Bill O'Reilly's book "Killing The Rising Sun". But I had to stop because some of the things those barbaric Jap bastards did to our dead and wounded made me too angry and sick to continue. I'm not sure if I'll pick it up again.
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conspiracy nonsense croft.
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Come on, Croft! Get real! Of Course it was TOTALLY unprovoked. Provocation would have had to have been some sort of military action, and we took none against Japan prior to Pearl Harbor.
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Because the congress didn't allowed it,after pearl harbour they approved America's involvement in the war
Coincidence? I don't think so
Well of course they approved it after the UNPROVOKED, dastardly, and cowardly sneak attack. It's not a coincidence, it's how the government works. You attack us, we're gonna hit back, and we're gonna kick the shit out of you. And BTW, the President can't always wait for Congress. As Commander In Chief, he sometimes has to hit back immediately. And there have been times when he has done just that.
Croft, you're a good guy, and I like you, but you're just way out of your depth on this one, and the more you argue for it, the worse it makes you look.
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