Every year I do a tribute to the Men and Women who died or were wounded at Pearl Harbor on December 7th 1941.
In the past I have used many pictures to express the time, I will again use pictures but I will also attempt to look at why The United States was so unprepared to deal with what happened at Pearl Harbor.
When the First World War ended in 1918, the people of the United States, Great Britain and France all swore that they would never be drawn into a war like this again. Both France and Great Britain made this acclamation because so many of their young men died in the war.
The United States had been an isolationist nation before the First World War and fell back into this mindset after the war,
Although the Military attempted to build up its' base of weapons, from 1918 to nearly 1934 the aircraft in all branches of the armed forces remained the twin wing aircraft of the past war. It was in 1934 that the first monoplane design came onto the scene, but until 1937 most aircraft were still twin wing biplane design.
In 1934 the pacifist and isolationist movement in the United States was reassured that NAZI Germany posed no threat to this nation by one Charles Lindberg.
When Pearl Harbor took place on December 7th of 1941 There were only 8 Battleships in service 7 Aircraft Carriers, the largest contingent of surface ships were destroyers. The Army Air Corps had something in the range of 100 bombers and slightly more in the area of fighter craft when the war began.
The lack of weapons to wage war came from a congress unwilling to put forth funds for weapons, when the Congress had promissed the people of the United States, that they would do what it took to keep the U.S. out of another war.
Bellow is a link that gives more detail on both the Japanese force that attacked Pearl Harbor, and Guam and the Phillipines, as well as the U.S. forces at Pearl as well as Guam and the Phillipines.
http://www.navweaps.com/index_oob/OOB_WWII_Pacific/OOB_WWII_Pearl_Harbor.htm
When Franklin Delano Roosevelt declared War on December 8th. 1941 the nation had been transformed, the Senators and Representatives who had opposed a strong military suddenly were passing legislation to build every weapon system to defeat an enemy/ enemies that had been ignored just years before.
Here are some photos and some movies to of the time.
A great book to understand why both the United States and Great Britain delayed preparing for the war that came is "Why England Slept" by a very young John F. Kennedy.
Here is more than just some footage from the attack, but part of a documentary on the attack
A few additional photos.
\
USS West Virginia
So this ends my yearly tribute to a Day that will live in infamy.
In the past I have used many pictures to express the time, I will again use pictures but I will also attempt to look at why The United States was so unprepared to deal with what happened at Pearl Harbor.
When the First World War ended in 1918, the people of the United States, Great Britain and France all swore that they would never be drawn into a war like this again. Both France and Great Britain made this acclamation because so many of their young men died in the war.
The United States had been an isolationist nation before the First World War and fell back into this mindset after the war,
Although the Military attempted to build up its' base of weapons, from 1918 to nearly 1934 the aircraft in all branches of the armed forces remained the twin wing aircraft of the past war. It was in 1934 that the first monoplane design came onto the scene, but until 1937 most aircraft were still twin wing biplane design.
In 1934 the pacifist and isolationist movement in the United States was reassured that NAZI Germany posed no threat to this nation by one Charles Lindberg.
When Pearl Harbor took place on December 7th of 1941 There were only 8 Battleships in service 7 Aircraft Carriers, the largest contingent of surface ships were destroyers. The Army Air Corps had something in the range of 100 bombers and slightly more in the area of fighter craft when the war began.
The lack of weapons to wage war came from a congress unwilling to put forth funds for weapons, when the Congress had promissed the people of the United States, that they would do what it took to keep the U.S. out of another war.
Bellow is a link that gives more detail on both the Japanese force that attacked Pearl Harbor, and Guam and the Phillipines, as well as the U.S. forces at Pearl as well as Guam and the Phillipines.
http://www.navweaps.com/index_oob/OOB_WWII_Pacific/OOB_WWII_Pearl_Harbor.htm
When Franklin Delano Roosevelt declared War on December 8th. 1941 the nation had been transformed, the Senators and Representatives who had opposed a strong military suddenly were passing legislation to build every weapon system to defeat an enemy/ enemies that had been ignored just years before.
Here are some photos and some movies to of the time.
A great book to understand why both the United States and Great Britain delayed preparing for the war that came is "Why England Slept" by a very young John F. Kennedy.
Here is more than just some footage from the attack, but part of a documentary on the attack
A few additional photos.
\
USS West Virginia
So this ends my yearly tribute to a Day that will live in infamy.
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