Today, December 7, is Pearl Harbor Remembrance Day.
βA date that will live in infamyβ, as referred to by President Franklin D. Roosevelt, Pearl Harbor Remembrance Day commemorates the surprise attack on December 7, 1941, that devastated the naval base at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii.
Over 2,000 American lives were lost, many more were injured, and the Pacific Fleet sustained a damaging blow.
Although the purpose of Japanβs attacks on Pearl Harbor were to deter American forces from joining World War II, their plans backfired. Spurred by the unexpected attack, Americans united in their willingness to join the war effort and declared war against Japan. More than two years after World War II began, the US entered the conflict, eventually playing a crucial role in ending the war in 1945.
Read our article to learn more about Pearl Harbor and how you can honor this historic day in American history.