Pacific Theatre in World War II
United States’ Involvement in the Pacific Theatre during World War II On 1 September 1939 the country of Germany led by Adolf Hitler invaded Poland using blitzkrieg tactics or in other words “lightning war”. As Germany is capturing Europe one country at a time Japan is doing the same except with Asia and Japan is also preparing for the attack of the United States naval base on the island of Oahu called Pearl Harbor. The attack on Pearl Harbor caused the United States to declare war on Japan, break isolationism and get deeply involved in World War II. On 7 December 1941 at 7:30 am army privates George Elliot and Joseph Lockard were operating in a radar station when they noticed a large amounts of aircraft incoming but they did not sound the alarm because there was supposed to be a group of B-17 bombers due to Pearl Harbor (Michael 10). At 8:00 am the words “Tora Tora Tora” sounded over Japanese radios meaning that the Japanese have achieved complete surprise on the Americans and that the attack was a go and the dive bombers started to drop their deadly payloads on the American airfields, aiming specifically for United States war planes (Michael 11). As the Japanese attacked the airfields they also simultaneously attacked the harbor with more dive bombers and torpedo planes equipped with torpedoes specially made for the shallow waters of the harbor (Michael 12). During all of the chaos a dive bomber dropped its deadly payload on to the USS Arizona, with a single bomb hit to the magazine, the whole bow of the ship was severed from the rest and 1,000 men died instantly (Michael 12). At 8:45 am even more Japanese torpedo planes and dive bombers attacked the harbor targeting repair yards and any other ships that the pilots saw. The attack was planned months before 7 December, the Japanese built a model of the actual harbor to help prepare for the attack and they practiced on it until each and every pilot knew exactly which target to hit and how to hit it and until
Cited: Burgan, Michael. The Attack on Pearl Harbor United States Entry into World War II. New York: Marshall Cavendish, 2012 Web. Television Networks, 07 Dec. 2011. Web. "The Pearl Harbor Attack, 7 December 1941." The Pearl Harbor Attack, 7 December 1941. Department of Defense. 50th Anniversary of World War II Commemorative Committee, 7 Dec. 1991. Web. 21 Nov. 2013. Web. Willmott, H.P. Pearl Harbor. London, Great Britain: Cassel and Company, 2001. Print.