On November 26, 1941 the Japanese fleet left Hitokappu Bay, heading for Pearl Harbor, Hawaii. The goal was to destroy all the military equipment and people there. The Japanese sailed with a fleet of six aircraft carriers, carrying 414 planes. Escorting them were two battleships and twelve other warships. The strategy was to approach Pearl Harbor from a north western direction where they were less likely to be detected by US scouts. By keeping the radios silent they were not seen on the American radio detectors. At dawn, December 7, 1941, the first wave of planes took off from the pacific ocean to make their 230-mile journey to Pearl Harbor, where they would wreck horror and bloodshed.
The first wave of planes took off at dawn; the morning of December 7th, 1941. This would be the catalyst for America joining World War Two. The first attack consisted of 50 horizontal bombers. These were the planes that dropped their bombs on the battle-ships in the harbor. Their were also 45 fighter planes, which mowed down America's planes sitting on the airfield on Ford Island. The planes were an easy open target, and they were shot down like ducks sitting in a row. Lastly in the first wave, was the 40 torpedo-bombers. They would drop their torpedos into the water, which then exploded into the battleships. The men on the ships and airfields during the attack were taken completely by surprise. The Americans only managed to get six of their own planes into the air to fight the Japanese. The anti aircraft guns didn't work as well as the Americans wanted them to, although a number of Japanese planes were shot down. Many men were lost in the first wave of the attack, but their was still horror to come in the second wave of planes, already on its way.

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The second wave consisted of mainly the same planes. There were 167 in the second wave, 183 in the first. The second wave was exactly like the first. Meant to destroy all American troops and equipment they could. The Americans were still caught by the surprise attack when the second wave came, but they were a little more prepared and managed to get a good number of their planes into the air. They also took down quite a few Japanese planes with the anti aircraft guns. But the Japanese still accomplished their goal of ruining the striking power of America's Pacific Fleet. During the one hour and 50 minute attack 2,403 men were killed, and over a thousand injured. The Japanese had won the battle, but the US was joining the war.
Pearl Harbor had wreaked devastation on all of America's Pacific fleet, and threw America into the war. "In one stroke the Japanese action silenced the debate that had divided Americans ever since the German defeat of France left England alone in the fight against the Nazi terror." FDR and Churchill conferred the day of the attack and Roosevelt announced that he would ask congress for a declaration of war the next day. When Winston Churchill heard this he wrote "To have the United States at our side was to me the greatest joy. Now at this very moment I knew the United States was in the war, up to the neck and in to the death. So we had won after all!...Hitler's fate was sealed. Mussolini's fate was sealed. As for the Japanese, they would be ground to powder." The men dead and wounded during the attack on Pearl Harbor would be fought for. America had lost its men, but it gained a boost of morale and went to war with a thrust of power hard to be compared to.

America sprang back from the attack and entered the war on Japan Dec. 8, along with Britain. Japan then declared war on The US and Britain. Then Germany and Italy declared war on the US on Dec. 11. It had become a Second World War. In that time it was called the War to End All Wars. Today we can see that is not true, but at the time the US was fighting for their lost lives in Pearl Harbor and the cruel massacre of minorities in Europe. They thought that this war would destroy all the evil in our world. The war had influences on everybody's lives. The stock market consistently went down after pearl harbor because of the uncertain investors, and America spent huge amounts of money and men fighting. It was a time of grieving and sadness for the whole world. America was about to enter the hardest part of a decade they had seen yet. Although Pearl Harbor had killed many Americans and shoved America into a war where times would be hard on the home-front, it amazingly seemed to boost peoples patriotism and unity. The US was all for its cause, and was united as one. This 'energy' of the people led to a greater victory in the war and a more prosperous country. Even though there were times of fighting ahead, America would pull out of it like it always had and continue on its way.