" In 110 flaming minutes on the morning of December 7, Japanese war planes virtually wiped out the U.S. A.'s first line of defense in the Pacific Ocean - Pearl harbor. Nearly our entire Pacific fleet was in the Harbor - 86 ships, exclusive of smaller craft. The Japs hit every one. They crippled eight battleships - half the number of battleships in the entire U.S. Navy - and 11 other major naval vessels, and they destroyed 177 Army and Navy warplanes.
"The most serious American losses were in personnel. As a result of the December 7 raid, 2,117 officers and elisted men of the navy and Marine Corps were killed, 960 are still reported missing and 876 were wounded but survived. The Army casualties were as follows: 228 officers and enlisted men were killed or later died of wounds; 396 were wounded, most of whom have now recovered and returned to duty.
Click here to read about the heroics of Dorie Miller at Pearl Harbor.
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