Regina Mendez 6/15/11 Block 3
Pearl Harbor Pearl Harbor is a day that no one will ever forget. It is also the day to remember all those men whose life’s were taken by that tragic day. Their bodies still lie on the Arizona ship, under water till this day. All we can do now is remember those men as heroes. They sacrificed their lives to fight for us and to win the battle. The day that the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor, was a complete surprise and nightmare that many people didn’t survive. 1940 was the year that Adolf Hitler build the German military machine and was forcing all of Europe to go into war. As all of France fell into Hitler’s plans, America was still against it. The British started recruiting American soldiers and pilots to fight against Hitler. Many pilots were up in the sky at war with Europe. At that time, president Roosevelt was sending the British and the Russians more ships and more aircraft weapons. Little did America know that while the British and the Russians were at war with Europe and France, the Japanese were planning a surprising attack on Pearl Harbor. The Japanese planed the sudden attack eighteen months before. They planned to annihilate their pacific fleet with one single attack. There were more than 100 ships that were at Pearl Harbor. Every battleship held more than 2,000 men aboard. Aside from the men on the ships there were the flyers, the marines, and the base personnel. Back in Washington D.C., the Navel Intelligence had noticed that the Japanese fleet was missing. They noticed their ships were at sea, but couldn’t track them. At that time the Japanese made
America believe that they were at peace. On Sunday December 7, 1941 at 7:20 in the morning, the Japanese threw their first bomb. From the skies they started shooting and bombing innocent people. All military men were awoken by the dreadful sounds of the bombs being thrown down to Pearl Harbor. The Arizona ship was immediately sunk. The Japanese had more than 300 airplanes in the skies shooting down at the ships. About 28 planes were shot down and the Japanese soon realized they had to withdrawal the third wave. Back at Pearl Harbor, more than 3,000 American lives were lost. President Roosevelt soon declared a state of war. In the Arizona ship, men were still trapped inside with no way out. After two weeks of no way out, the men in the Arizona ship lost their lives. America was preparing to strike back at Japan. In April 18, 1942 America attacked back at Japan. The soldiers only had about 16 airplanes to go out and bomb Japan. Many soldiers with planes were flying on empty tanks and with no weapons to defend themselves with. But yet, they were all very brave soldiers. Till this day, 1,177 men still lie entombed inside of the Battleship Arizona. They now have a tome that lays on top of the Arizona ship to remember all those brave soldiers whose lives were taken on the day that Pearl Harbor was attacked.