Why is pearl harbor important

But at a. Thousands of lives would be lost that day. The sudden attack in Hawaii —at the time a territory of the United States , not a state—might have taken many by surprise, but the Japanese had been planning the operation for months.

But because the U. By destroying the U. So Yamamoto decided to move forward with a surprise attack on the U. So on November 26, , 31 warships carrying fighter planes and bombers slipped from Japan into the North Pacific. They moved silently until they closed in on the Hawaiian Islands.

The bombers dropped bombs on American warships below, while the fighter planes targeted the U. Following both attacks, 19 U. In all, 2, servicemen and women were killed, 1, were wounded. In light of such atrocities, the United States began passing economic sanctions against Japan, including trade embargoes on aircraft exports, oil and scrap metal, among other key goods, and gave economic support to Guomindang forces. Tokyo and Washington negotiated for months leading up to the Pearl Harbor attack, without success.

While the United States hoped embargoes on oil and other key goods would lead Japan to halt its expansionism, the sanctions and other penalties actually convinced Japan to stand its ground, and stirred up the anger of its people against continued Western interference in Asian affairs.

To Japan, war with the United States had become to seem inevitable, in order to defend its status as a major world power. Because the odds were stacked against them, their only chance was the element of surprise. Proudly, the Japanese Army author ties sent out this bombing photograph as the Akiyama Squadron of Japanese planes, as they bombed an objective in China.

The scene changed and afterwards, Japanese bombers flew over U. Islands in the Pacific and the bombs, such as these, left the planes aimed at the Pearl Harbor Naval base and other Strategic U. Admiral Yamamoto Isoroku spent months planning an attack that aimed to destroy the Pacific Fleet and destroy morale in the U.

Here in , with U. Service personnel deployed around the world to protect these same values, we should remember the courage of the sailors, soldiers, airmen and Marines who saw the United States through such turmoil in the days after the bombing of Pearl Harbor to the against-all-odds victories in Tokyo, at the Battle of Midway, and ultimately in World War II itself.

His ship was later sunk at the Battle of the Coral Sea. The note is a prayer from his bride, Evelyn Howell, always sure to remember the service members who "lost their tomorrows. Many of our country's servicemen lost their tomorrows for our sakes. May we, with your help, make our todays count.