Thank you all for joining me on this build. The work is outstanding.
For those that will not finish by the "end date", I encourage you, please finish. Do not let your build end up on the shelf of doom, never to be finished. The spirit of this build is to remember, to honor those who died without knowing that they were at war.
I will be at work tomorrow and will be unable to post until afternoon. With that in mind here is the last bit of "History".
December 7 1941, A day which will live in infamy.
The "attack" begins at approximately 7:51. At approximately 11:00 the last plane landed on the Japanese carriers. The time between is filled with death and destruction and the end of paradise. Six carriers. Approximately 350 aircraft. A plan designed to be just a distraction for the main thrust into the South Pacific by Japanese naval and army units. just a distraction, one designed to cripple the United States Navy so that the Japanese could move freely through the pacific.
In the end 2388 military and civilian dead. 2107 Navy and Marine as well as 233 army and 48 civilians. 1109 military and civilian wounded. 710 Navy and Marine as well as 364 Army and 35 civilians. 44 states represented, as well as the District of Columbia, Guam, the Phillipines, and Hawaii. 16 congressional medal of honor given as well as 51 Navy crosses, 53 silver stars, four Navy and Marine Corps medals, one Distinguished Service medal, and three bronze stars. 8 battleships sunk or heavily damaged, one minelayer sunk, two auxilliaries sunk or capsized and one heavily damaged. 169 aircraft lost, 92 Navy and 77 Army. 150 damaged, 31 Navy and 128 Army. All this in 110 minutes of combat.
For this amount of damage the Japanese lost nine fighters, 15 dive bombers, and five torpedo planes. One I-class submarine was lost as well as the five midget subs. the casualties; 55 airmen, 121 submarine crewmen, and nine midget sub crewmen.
These facts taken from several sources.
The attack was so quick, so sudden, many of those killed didn’t even know they were at war. even after the bombs and bullets started falling people didn’t believe that they were being attacked. one report of a young man hunting with a cousin didn’t believe there was an attack even after his cousin was killed. After that day the Hawaiian Islands were torn from being a territory governed by a few families to becoming a true part of the United States becoming a state not long after the war. The US Navy was forced to change from a navy of battleship groups to a Navy centered on the carrier.
Today it is said that the Arizona still weeps for her crew.
December 7 1941. Never To Be Forgotten.
Joe