Pearl Harbor, The Story Behind the Movie

<body bgcolor="#100060" background="../../backgrounds/background.gif" link="#FF0000" vlink="#FFFFFF" alink="#FFFF00"> <div align="center"> <h1><font color=ffffff>Pearl Harbor, The Story Behind the Movie</font></h1> <p><font size=1 color=ffffff>To view Pearl Harbor correctly, you need a Framesets enabled browser</font></p> <p><font SIZE="2"><font color="#FFFFFF" face="arial, helvetica">Pearl Harbor. December 7, 1941: "A day that will live in infamy." The story is known throughout the world as a tragedy that brought the United States into World War II. But what do we REALLY know about events leading up to the bombing of America's Pacific Fleet?</font></p> <p><font color="#FFFFFF" face="arial, helvetica">Minoru Genda was the brilliant strategist who planned the surprise air attack. How did he do it? The U.S. had intercepted ominous Japanese messages strongly suggesting the outbreak of war. What do those messages reveal? Pearl Harbor, and its aftermath, produced many heroes like Dorie Miller and Jimmy Doolittle. Who were these men and what did they accomplish?</font></p> <center> <table border="0" width="580"> <tr> <td width="50%" valign="top" align="center"><font color="#FF0000" face="arial, helvetica" size="3"><b>GO TO</b></font><br> <a href="http://www.awesomestories.com"><font size=5>AWESOMESTORIES.COM</font> </a><br> <font color="#00FFFF" face="arial, helvetica"><b>To select from many stories</b></font> </td> <td width="50%" valign="middle" align="center"><font size="3" face="arial, helvetica" color="#00FFFF"><b>-Or-</b></font><font color="#00FFFF"><b><font size="3" face="arial, helvetica"><br> Go Directly to:</font></b></font><font size="2" color="#00FFFF"> </font><br> <b><font size="5" color="#FF0000"><a href="pearl_harbor_ch1.htm">Pearl Harbor</a></font></b> </td> </tr> </table> </center> <p align="justify"><font SIZE="2" color="#FFFFFF" face="arial, helvetica">Follow a direct path to read the intercepted messages and see the photographs taken by Japanese aviators. Look at FDR's original draft of his famous "infamy" speech. Examine the evidence to decide whether America should have expected a Japanese attack. Links to everything you need to understand the Pearl Harbor story like you never knew it before...Brought to you by AwesomeStories.com.</font></p> <p align="center"><font face="Arial" size="2" color="#FFFFFF">This site uses Shockwave Flash Technology from Macromedia.</p> <p align="center"> </p> <p>Pearl Harbor Chapter One</p> <p>As dawn lit the Hawaiian skies on December 7, 1941, Americans stationed at Pearl Harbor had no clue their world was about to explode. Nor did their Navy and Army Air Force commanders, Admiral Kimmel and General Short. Pearl Harbor, the strategic Pacific base, was about to become the scene of unbelievable tragedy.</p> <p>To the west of Hawaii, the Japanese fleet of 6 aircraft carriers, 24 support vessels plus submarines maintained strict radio silence. Transmission fuses had even been removed from radios to make sure no messages could be intercepted. This was to be a surprise attack. Secrecy was paramount.</p> <p>To the east, in Washington D.C., Japanese diplomats had delayed their scheduled meeting with the American Secretary of State. Their government wanted to buy time as Imperial attack forces (including two-man midget submarines) prepared to wipe out America’s Pacific Fleet.</p> <p>Pearl Harbor Chapter Two</p> <p>The Empire of Japan and the United States were at odds. Differences over China put them on a path toward war. In 1931, Japan conquered Manchuria. Not content with current gains, she was flexing her military muscle throughout the rest of China. Shanghai was bombed to the point of abject terror. By 1938, people in cities like Nanking were massacred by Japanese soldiers.</p> <p>America was alarmed. With important strategic and economic interests in Asia, the U.S. increased military and financial aid to China and placed an embargo on Japan. Poor in natural resources, Japan needed American oil and other raw materials. By the end of July, 1941, all oil shipments were cut off. Government officials in Tokyo vowed to get their own oil - by conquering all of Southeast Asia.</p> <p>Former allies in World War I, both countries had aligned themselves with opposite sides as war broke out in Europe. America was giving aid to Great Britain whose empire stretched throughout Asia. In 1940, Japan signed an agreement (the Tripartite Pact) with Germany and Italy. Japan’s oil supply increased the range of Nazi war ships.</p> <p>During 1941 diplomats from both countries tried to negotiate their differences. But the Imperial Government hedged its bets. Its leaders wanted to continue their expansionist policy. Admiral Isoroku Yamamoto wrote a letter on January 7, 1941 suggesting a plan that would immobilize the one perceived obstacle standing between Japan and her intended conquests: the American fleet at Pearl Harbor.</p> <p>To view the rest of Pearl Harbor, you must have a FRAMESETS enabled browser</p> </body>