Out of the Past - 79 Years Ago - December 11, 1941 UNITED STATES AT WAR WITH JAPAN

The United States of America and the Empire of Japan formally went to war against each other on Monday of this week, December 8, after the Japanese had started hostilities Sunday with a sudden attack on the United States possessions in the Pacific.

An American rally of power followed the Japanese sudden attack Sunday of Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, in which 1,500 people were killed, several hundred more injured, several American planes destroyed and some serious damage inflicted on American naval boats.

The attack on Hawaii came before the Japanese even declared war and while the American government was still conferring with Japanese “peace” envoys regarding peaceful settlement of differences between the two nations.

The war spread quickly after the first attack and soon there were reports of attacks as well as counter-attacks on the Philippines and the Americanowned islands of Wake and Guam. Simultaneous attacks on British held Hongkong, attempted troop landings on the upper Malay coast, and the attempted movement of Japanese troops into the China sea indicted very clearly that the Japanese offensive had been underway for at least several days if not weeks.

A few hours after the attack on Hawaii Sunday, President Roosevelt issued a call for a special session of congress to meet in Washington at noon Monday. The president delivered a brief 500word war message at the joint session Monday and in less than two hours the two houses had passed the war measure.

American people were stunned Sunday when first news came of the attack on the island fortress of Hawaii, often referred to as the “American Gibraltar of the Pacific.”

The White House announced Monday that the attack had resulted in the capsizing of an old battleship, the destruction of a destroyer, damage to other naval vessels and destruction of a relatively large number of planes.