Hawaii, December 7, 1941
The serene morning skies over Pearl Harbor shattered in an instant.
At 7:55 a.m., waves of Japanese aircraft launched a surprise attack against the U.S. Pacific Fleet.
Battleships exploded, airfields burned, and hundreds of American servicemen were killed or wounded.
The meticulously planned strike aimed to cripple U.S. naval power, granting Japan freedom to expand across Southeast Asia and the Pacific.
Among the chaos, stories of valor emerged—sailors manned anti-aircraft guns, pilots scrambled to defend, and medics tended the injured.
President Franklin D. Roosevelt addressed the nation the following day:
"December 7, 1941— a date which will live in infamy."
The attack galvanized American resolve.
The United States declared war on Japan, marking its full entry into World War II.
The Pacific War had begun—a brutal conflict spanning thousands of miles of ocean, islands, and jungles.
From Midway to Guadalcanal, from Iwo Jima to Okinawa, the struggle for supremacy would be fierce and costly.