… Pearl Harbor, March 4, 1942
"With great solemnity and reverence, America observed the 75th anniversary of the devastating December 7th, 1941, attack on Pearl Harbor that thrust the nation into World War II. There was little recognition, however, of the anniversary of a second highly consequential attack on that strategic Pacific base by the Japanese Navy on March 4, 1942, less than three months later.
The story of the first attack on Pearl Harbor — President Roosevelt's "date which will live in infamy" — is a familiar one. At 7:55 AM on a Sunday morning, over 350 Japanese planes launched in two waves from aircraft carriers north of Hawaii bombed the airfields and fleet anchorage on the island of Oahu.
The Japanese achieved complete surprise with results beyond their expectation. All eight of the battleships in the U.S. Pacific battle squadron were hit. Four of them were sunk with two, USS Arizona and USS Oklahoma, total losses. The island's air defenses were devastated. The greatest loss of all was the 2,403 Americans – Army, Navy, Marines and civilians — who died in this attack…"
Main page
link
Amicalement
Armand