Some people have demonized the Roosevelt Administration for trying to provoke a conflict with the Imperial Empire of Japan at a time when the winds of war were threatening in Europe. Knowing of the atrocities being committed against the Chinese people along with the expansion of Japan's military influence through out the Pacific islands was a definite red flag for US intelligence experts. Years before Colonel Billy Mitchell of the US Army had had visions of a Japanese attack upon Pearl Harbor, but as he proved that aerial attack strategy and development would soon render battleships into obsolescence did not sit well with the Admiralty of the US Navy and he was court martialed for his predictions.

Then an unlikely development ensured the doom of an unsuspecting Pearl Harbor from an unlikely source. In 11, November, 1940 the British unleashed a torpedo bomber attack upon the Italian port of Taranto and decimated the fleet harbored there. Thinking that the shallow waters of Taranto would discourage the delivery of an attack by torpedo bombers, the Italians found themselves woefully wrong. Despite waters too shallow to allow a conventional torpedo hit the targeted hull of a capital ship the aging British Bi-planes managed to deliver their ordnance with surprising effectiveness and the resulting loss of the battle marked the beginning of a turn around for the British in the Mediterranean.

The successful attack by the British came to the attention of the Japanese and General Togo sent a young intelligence officer to investigate the circumstances around an attack that should not have succeeded. Unbeknownst to the Americans, Japan had been exploring a means of getting around the limitations of shallow waters at Pearl Harbor. Closer examination revealed that the British had craftily modified their torpedoes to skim the surface of the waters thereby hitting their targets above the waterline where the ships hull were less fortified with plating. The stage was set for a future mission against the US.

Was it by chance or fate that President Roosevelt had ordered an oil embargo against the Imperial Empire of Japan which denied them the supplies they needed for their rapidly expanding Pacific island conquests? Was it simply coincidental that FDR relieved Admiral James Richardson who objected to maintaining Pacific Fleet headquarters at Pearl Harbor which would result in the assignment of Rear Admiral Husband E. Kimmel, a man that was thought to lack imagination? At the same time FDR had ordered the Lend Lease Act which would begin supplying Great Britain and Russia with US tanks, ordnance, and P-40 Warhawk fighters.

Little did the American public realize that by 1940 the US was already at war as US Naval ships and Merchant Marines were being sunk at an alarming rate by German U-Boats in the Atlantic Ocean from the Golf Coast to further north along the eastern seaboard. Fires blazed offshore at night while burning oil slicks from sunken shipping left many sailors burned or drowned. America was way behind the game unprepared for war and falling behind in technology as well. The undeclared war went on and an uneasy vigil of US naval sea planes searched for Japanese threats in the Pacific.

Thinking that Pearl was impervious to an aerial assault Lieutenant General Walter Short commanding US Army forces there, maintained a defense against saboteurs or commandoes while Kimmel ordered all fighter and bomber aircraft tightly lined up on the runways, surrounded by armed guards. When US reconnaissance noted that a large task force had left the shores of the Japanese mainland but could not locate their course, caution should have been thrown to the wind, but they had failed to patrol the airspace approaching the Aleutian chain of Islands to the north where the huge Japanese flotilla would approach then sharply turn south toward Hawaii.

Ironically the first shot fired in anger was by the Americans as the US Destroyer Ward fired a 5 inch shell that hit and sank a Japanese mini submarine just outside the Pearl Harbor ship entrance. More than 2 hours before Japanese planes would flood the skies over the Island of Oahu, the message had not yet been received by Admiral Kimmel! As the first wave of Japanese attack aircraft closed in on Oahu a US Army radar station picked up the formation on their screen and thought it was an expected flight of US B-17 bombers coming in from the California coast. Why Admiral Stark in Washington DC had intel that the Japanese intended to hit Pearl Harbor, but failed to inform Admiral Kimmel is another question mark that puzzles historians.

Little did they know that two waves of attacking Japanese aircraft-131 strong of the Aichi 3A2, Val Type 99, single-engine dive bombers, 79 of the Mitsubishi A6M2 Zeke or Zero Model 11 Carrier-borne fighter, and 143 NakajimaB5N2 Kate Type 97, Model 12 Single-engine torpedo bombers swarmed the skies over the Hawaiian island of Oahu and rained havoc down upon the US Pacific Naval base. Children playing baseball outside early that fateful morning frowned at the strange airplanes flying by with the smiling faces of Japanese aviators from inside their cockpits.

On the deck of two US Naval warships a morning assembly of fully dressed officers sounded the morning flag accompanied by bugle as Japanese aircraft buzzed by! The calamity of explosions and strafing was moments away! Seeing that no threat was apparent, Japanese flight leaders led their formations to attack elevation and began their bombing runs. The enemy groups began their attacks upon the airfields and Battle Ship Row and in minutes the smoke and fire of war now darkened the skies over Pearl. The sneak attack on Pearl Harbor was full of ironies and unlikelihood. The Japanese were surprised how quickly a canopy of anti-aircraft fire had been mustered to meet them as they dove upon the hapless naval base. By some accounts within 15 minutes flack, heavy shells, and machine gun fire were rising to the sky to meet the enemy.

It is said that while the explosions and smoke rocked the harbor Admiral Kimmel walked outside to view the carnage clutching the action report that had been forwarded by the USS Ward hours before. He angrily ripped off the chevrons on the shoulders of his uniform! This signified that he was acknowledging his failure as commander of the Pacific Fleet at Pearl. Both he and Lt. General Walter Short would face endless Congressional hearings in the years to follow that fateful date in US military history. Only 29 Japanese aircraft were lost in the attack deemed the most successful surprise assault in military history. Yet, because of the rapid response of the sailors, US Marines, and officers on the ground, who threw up a heroic air defense the Japanese decided the element of surprise had long passed and not knowing where the US Aircraft carriers were, they withdrew instead.

In the aftermath although 8 major warships were either destroyed, sunk, or burning on Battleship Row, 400 US aircraft had been rendered into burning hunks of metal on the ground, and 2,500 Navy, Army, and US Marines had taken casualties, the precious dry docks where repairs could be made had been left unscathed. US aircraft carriers were out to sea, and rescue operations were soon to begin salvage along with repair. All Japanese mini-submarines had been captured and destroyed while a tense remainder of surviving personnel awaited an expected invasion by the Japanese. Sadly some US aircraft were mistakenly shot down by friendly fire in the dark days that followed.

Only 2 American fighter pilots were able to get aloft in their P-40 Warhawks with no time to suit up in their uniforms or get properly oriented they lifted off a reserve runway where repairs were undertaken away from the main bases. Flying after the tail end fighters and bombers as they withdrew. George Welsh and Kenneth Taylor shot down 6 Japanese aircraft between the two of them. Awarded as heroes. They were the only fliers who had not been haplessly shot out of the sky or on the ground before they could get airborne.

Though a string of rapid victories began in the days and weeks that followed Pearl Harbor beginning with the invasion of the Philippines under General Douglas Mac Arthur retribution came swiftly. The Doolittle Raid hitting Tokyo with carrier based B-25's who in the early months of 1942 shocked the Japanese and caused them to keep a large number of forces locked into mainland defense helped Americans to achieve a morale victory. Just weeks later the Japanese would suffer the devastating losses of 4 aircraft carriers that participated in the Pearl Harbor attack Akagi, Kaga, Soryu and Hiryu, part of the six-carrier force that had attacked Pearl Harbor six months earlier—were sunk, as was the heavy cruiser Mikuma in the decisive battle at Midway.

In 1943, the architect of the Pearl Harbor attack Isoroku Yamamoto, Marshall Admiral, of the Japanese Imperial Navy would go down in flames after his flight and escorting fighters were intercepted by a squadron of US Army Airforce P-38 Lightnings who made quick work of the enemy formation! Having used decryption by US Naval intelligence to determine where and when Yamamoto's flight would be, the interception was a terrific act of vengeance exacted upon the perpetrator of the Pearl Harbor tragedy. Pearl Harbor should serve as a lesson to future generations of Americans over just how cunning and ruthless our enemies can be, but also just how badly we can suffer as a result of un-preparedness and complacency. Today as Democrats seek to under fund the US military and allow alliances for profit with China and Iran America faces an even costlier lesson should fools prevail!