MY SAY : DECEMBER 7, 1941 A DAY OF INFAMY
On December 7, 1941 360 Japanese warplanes struck the naval base in Pearl Harbor in a surprise attack.Five of eight battleships, three destroyers, and seven other ships were sunk or severely damaged, and more than 200 aircraft were destroyed. A total of 2,400 Americans were killed and 1,200 were wounded. The next day President Franklin Delano Roosevelt addressed the nation and declared war.
“No matter how long it may take us to overcome this premeditated invasion, the American people in their righteous might will win through to absolute victory. With confidence in our armed forces, with the unbounding determination of our people, we will gain the inevitable triumph — so help us God.I ask that the Congress declare that since the unprovoked and dastardly attack by Japan on Sunday, December 7th, 1941, a state of war has existed between the United States and the Japanese empire.”
It ended on September 2, 1945, when Japanese Foreign Minister Mamoru Shigemitsu signed the Instrument of Surrender on behalf of the Japanese Government, formally ending World War II.
The victory and ceremonial surrender ended Shinto imperialism, a faith driven belief in the divine origin of Japanese superiority to all other nations.
And that was the last time that America fought a war to win with a decisive surrender.
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