Nagumo's Execution Essay: The Bombing Of Pearl Harbor

The bombing of Pearl Harbor caused the United States to enter World War II, and ultimately led to success for the Allies. After the U.S. spent their time aiding both sides in the war with money and weapons, they had to pick a side once the Japanese bombed one of their naval bases in Hawaii. Pearl Harbor was a naval base on the island of Oahu, Hawaii. During the attack, there were 102 ships, of which 15 were minorly damaged, 11 were moderately damaged, and 7 ships were sunk. The Japanese felt threatened by the U.S. being present in the Pacific, even though they were around 4,000 miles away from each other. According to the Naval History and Heritage Command, the Japanese, led by Chichi Nagumo, were way closer than the U.S. thought. They said, “Under the greatest secrecy, Nagumo took his ships to sea on 26 November 1941, with

In this quote, they state that the Japanese were incredibly close to what they had anticipated. They launched ships 13 days prior to the attack in order to bring backup to the airplanes. They flew in 2 waves, and were launched from 6 different aircraft carriers. Nobody believed that the Japanese would start a war with the U.S. by attacking Pearl Harbor, seeing as how far away from the mainland it was. The Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor because they were worried that the U.S. would interfere with the military plans in Asia and the Pacific. But, by bombing Pearl Harbor, it led to the U.S. going out of their way to attack the Japanese. The bombing killed 2,403 U.S. soldiers and around 300 aircraft. Dr. John J. Tierney Jr. stated that this event brought a wave of “national unity, an end of American isolationism, the entry of the U.S. into WWII, and the beginning of the “superpower” status of the United States,” (Tierney