Pearl Harbor

Image: The USS Arizona burning after the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, December 7, 1941. 1,177 military personnel died on the Arizona; overall 2,350 individuals died at Pearl Harbor on that day, including 68 civilians, with an additional 1,178 injured.

Mr. Vice President [Henry A. Wallace], Mr. Speaker [Sam Rayburn], members of the Senate and the House of Representatives: yesterday, December 7th, 1941–a date which will live in infamy–the United States of America was suddenly and deliberately attacked by naval and air forces of the Empire of Japan.

…we will not only defend ourselves to the uttermost but will make it very certain that this form of treachery shall never again endanger us.

Hostilities exist. There is no blinking at the fact that our people, our territory and our interests are in grave danger.

With confidence in our armed forces—with the unbounding determination of our people—we will gain the inevitable triumph—so help us God.

–President Franklin D. Roosevelt

Historic words. Worth remembering.