Essay On Pearl Harbor

924 Words2 Pages

It is very tempting as human beings to put blame on someone else. Especially during a time of tragedy. Besides the attack of 9/11, Pearl Harbor is one of the most surprising attacks the United States of America has ever faced. The attack on December seventh, 1941 is what brought America into World War Two. The nation proceeded to declare war on Japan. Then, because of the alliance between Germany and Japan, Germany declared war on the U.S. At the time, Franklin Delano Roosevelt (FDR) was president. From the beginning of his presidency and the start of the war, he had wanted to get involved with the war. Historians have debated for many years who is at fault for the attack on Pearl Harbor and causing the deaths of two thousand Americans. He believed that without the United States aid, Russia and England would collapse, and the United States government had broken a diplomatic code and intercepted a message from Japan threatening war. Roosevelt missed many opportunities to prevent the bombing. This bomb attack brought our nation into war and caused the deaths of over a thousand American citizens. For the attack itself, Japan had 2.4 million trained ground groups. The first wave of planes took off at 6 o’clock in the morning. “There were approximately fifty or more planes coming towards Pearl Harbor,” (Pearl Harbor, Oahu). However, the first set of planes hit Oahu, Hawaii at 7:40 a.m., and the second wave of Japanese planes came in at 8:54 a.m. Several ships had been blown up to pieces by bombs and torpedoes, and turned upside down. With about 2,390 American people dead, the attack ended at one o’clock in the afternoon. America went silent. People were shocked at what had happened. Roosevelt, many might argue, is not to be blamed fo... ... middle of paper ... ...an conflict. He did. Roosevelt sent the American Pacific Fleet (American Navy) from the west coast to arm Pearl Harbor to tempt Japan. An attack was imminent. When FDR and the government decided to send the warning out to the citizens and armed forces at Pearl Harbor, it was too late. Pearl Harbor had been attacked, thus creating “‘the day that will live in infamy,’” (Roosevelt 2). Franklin Delano Roosevelt is at fault for the bombing at Pearl Harbor. Not only did he fear that Russia and Great Britain would fall without U.S. aid, or break a diplomatic code, or intercept a message providing information about the attack, he did nothing to prevent it. There were numerous occasions when FDR had the opportunity to listen to the American people and not get involved in the European conflict. Instead, Roosevelt jumped on the opportunity to fight in the Second World War.

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