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Japan Attacks Pearl Harbor — US Enters the War

| World War II

Japan launched a surprise carrier-based air attack on the US Pacific Fleet at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, sinking or damaging 8 battleships, killing 2,403 Americans, and wounding 1,178 more. The attack was coordinated with simultaneous strikes across Southeast Asia. President Roosevelt called it 'a date which will live in infamy' and Congress declared war on Japan the following day.

Sources

  • T1 NARA – Pearl Harbor Attack Congressional Hearings, 1945–1946 Official
  • T2 Prange, G., 'At Dawn We Slept' Major
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