Pearl Harbor: A Day that will Live in Infamy

Created by some students and adapted by Ms. Olson

1. is Pearl Harbor?

• Pearl Harbor is a natural harbor located on the southern end of the island of Oahu in the state of Hawaii (Hawaii was still a U.S. territory in 1941).

2. What purpose did Pearl Harbor serve?

• Pearl Harbor was an excellent place for the U.S. Navy to use as a harbor for its ships. The mountains of Oahu were thought to be an excellent protection against an enemy invasion.

• The location in Hawaii helped the US Navy patrol the Pacific Ocean.

3. Why did the Japanese attack Pearl Harbor?

• The U.S. had put an embargo (cut off supply) on oil and planes to Japan. Japan needed these to complete its military conquest of the Pacific and Asia. Japan, felt it was only a matter of time until the U.S. tried to stop them militarily.

Hideki Tojo, military ruler of Japan

4. Why did the Japanese attack Pearl Harbor? (Continued)

• The Japanese decided to strike first in a surprise attack. The place they could hurt the U.S. most was at Pearl Harbor, where much of the U.S. Pacific fleet was docked.

Japanese planes attacking Pearl Harbor

5. What happened on the day of the attack?

• Sunday, December 7, 1941, 7:55 AM: The Japanese air force attacks Pearl Harbor in a surprise attack. The American Naval Base was caught completely off guard. By the time the U.S. forces could mount a resistance, nearly 2,400 people died in the attack.

6. What happened on the day of the attack? (Continued)

• The Japanese attack destroyed five battleships, three cruisers, and several smaller vessels, while wiping out almost 200 airplanes.

7. What happened the day of the attack? (Continued)

• Hardest hit was the USS Arizona, the Arizona was hit by several Japanese bombs and sunk to the bottom of Pearl Harbor. Nearly 1,200 sailors were killed, only 300 survived.

The USS Arizona going down in flames

8. What happened the day of the attack? (Continued)

• 15 year old sailor Martin Matthews was on board the Arizona and was blown overboard by the explosion. Matthews explains, “There were steel fragments in the air…and pieces of bodies.”

9. What happened the day of the attack? (Continued)

• Today the sailors who gave their lives on the USS Arizona are honored by a monument in Pearl Harbor.

USS Arizona submerged beneath Memorial

10. What was the reaction to the bombing by Americans?

• “We felt, this is our country , and we’re going to fight to defend it. When we got home that evening we were glued to the radio.”

• Dellie Hahne, college student at Santa Barbara College in CA

11. How did our government react to the Pearl Harbor bombing?

• “...a state of war has existed between the United States and the Japanese empire.”

• Franklin D. Roosevelt, December 8, 1941

President Roosevelt signing declaration of war

12. How did Pearl Harbor change the US position in WWII?

• The US declared war on Japan and officially became an Allied Power.

• After Pearl Harbor, millions of men and women pulled together in support of the Allied Powers.

13. Could the United States have prevented this from happening?

• This is a matter of controversy in social studies that you can decide for yourself. Historians are split on whether or not President Roosevelt knew about the impending attack, and if he just let it happen to give the U.S. an excuse to go to war. (Continued on next page)

President Roosevelt

14. What do you think? Would the President of the United States sacrifice thousands of lives just for an excuse to enter the war? What did he have to benefit from this? (Keep in mind the war did end The Depression.) If FDR did know, why

didn’t the U.S. at least mount some sort of defense? (We still probably would’ve gone to war

if we won the Battle of Pearl Harbor.) Your opinion could be the right answer, because no

one knows for sure.

15. How does Pearl Harbor affect us today?

• Due to the bravery of the men and women who risked or lost their lives at Pearl Harbor, the only invasion of this country in the 20th century.

• Some historians make comparisons with the attack on September 11, 2001

Pearl Harbor Quiz(Click on the answer you think is correct)

1. In what state is Pearl Harbor located?

A. OahuB. HawaiiC. FloridaD. California

Pearl Harbor Quiz (Continued)

2. What purpose did Pearl Harbor serve?

A. A vacation resortB. A place for manufacturing weaponsC. A naval baseD. A body of water for mining pearls

Pearl Harbor Quiz (Continued)

3. Why did the Japanese attack Pearl Harbor?

A. Germany, their ally, told them toB. Revenge for the bombing of HiroshimaC. They wanted to take over the United StatesD. They wanted to destroy the U.S. Navy

Pearl Harbor Quiz (Continued)4. What did the U.S. do that angered Japan and led them to attack?

A. Put an embargo on oil and planes to JapanB. Put thousands of Japanese-Americans in

internment campsC. Bombed TokyoD. Took Pearl Harbor from the Japanese

Pearl Harbor Quiz (Continued)

5. 1,200 U.S. sailors died when the Japanese sunk what ship?

A. USS PennsylvaniaB. USS ArizonaC. USS OklahomaD. USS West Virginia

List of Works Cited– http://satftp.soest.hawaii.edu/space/hawaii/maps/Oahu_map.758x554.gif (Map of Oahu)

– http://www.execpc.com/~dshaaf/bshipro2.html (Map of battleship row)

– http://www.isd.net/aswanson/ww2his/tojo.htm (Picture of Tojo)

– http://movieboxoffice.about.com/library/bl/gallery/blpearl01.htm (Pictures from the movie Pearl Harbor)

– http://www.fdrlibrary.marist.edu/photos.html (Pictures of FDR)

– http://www.fdrlibrary.marist.edu/wwphotos.html (pictures of sinking of USS Arizona)

– http://www.homestead.com/ibnease/index.html (USS Arizona Memorial)

– http://memory.loc.gov (Picture of man and daughter listening to the radio)

– http://www.iwojima.com/raising/lflaga.gif (Flag raising over Iwo Jima)

– http://www.essentialpearlharbor.com/osehphsounds.html (Sound waves of CBS Broadcast and FDR’s speech)

– http://www.thedeskof.com/thoughts/god_bless_America.htm (Kate Smith’s “God Bless America”)

– http://www.library.nwu.edu/govpub/collections/wwii-posters/img/ww1647-91.jpg (Poster after Pearl Harbor)

– http://www.cinemenium.com (Video Trailer of Pearl Harbor)

The End

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