On the early hours of Sunday morning on Dec. 7, 1941, the Japanese Commander in chief of the Combined Fleet, Admiral Yamamoto Isoroku carried out his plan of surprise attack at Pearl Harbor. It caught U.S. by surprise and there were heavy casualties. Thousands of servicemen were either killed or wounded and there were hundreds of civilian casualties. The U.S. entire fleet stationed in Hawaii was badly crippled. In a matter of two hours’ attack, all battleships were hit, four sunk and three badly damaged. Two destroyers were sunk and other ships were not operational. Hundreds of aircraft were damaged.
Minutes after the attack at Pearl Harbor, on December 8, Philippine local time, the Japanese bombers stationed in Taiwan just north of the Philippines bombed Iba airfields destroying all sixteen P-40 on the ground or about to touch down. They also did great damage to Clark air Base. Japanese bombers also wrecked havoc upon the Army Air Force at Hickham Field and Wheeler Field. Tank after tank blew up and flames could be seen as far away as Manila. When the last Japanese planes left Clark, the base was totally destroyed.
These were the scenes on both sides of the Pacific Ocean on the Day of Infamy. There are very few veterans of World War II left around. They did the ultimate sacrifice for us to have the freedom we enjoy today. Let’s pause and pray for those people who perished on that Day of Infamy and to all the men & women in the military.
To read more of what happened on Dec. 7-8, 1941, read “BAHALA NA (Come What May) – A World War II Story of Love, Faith, Courage, Determination and Survival, available at http://www.amazon.com/author/rosalindarmorgan.
Until next time, stop and smell the roses.
Rosalinda
Get your copy today at www.amazon.com/author/rosalindarmorgan.
Rosalinda R Morgan 