Relations between Japan and the United States had been deteriorating for decades prior to the attack on Pearl Harbor due to Japan's expansionist ambitions in Asia and the Pacific. The U.S. responded to Japan's invasion of China and Indochina with trade embargoes, including on oil, threatening Japan's war machine. On December 7, 1941, Japan launched a surprise attack on the U.S. naval base at Pearl Harbor in Hawaii using aircraft carriers, severely damaging the American fleet and killing over 2,000 Americans. The attack drew the United States into World War II against Japan and its Axis allies.

2. the Japanese military "has been built for war, feels prepared for war and would welcome war. It has never yet been beaten and possesses unlimited self confidence. I am not an alarmist but I believe that we should have our eyes open to all possible future contingencies. The facts of history would render it criminal to close them ." ~ Joseph Grew, U.S. ambassador to Tokyo (1932)

7. Emperor Hirohito Tojo I’ll make peace with the Americans! But by November of 1941…

9. THE FIRST MESSAGE OF THE ATTACK ON PEARL HARBOR: The original message sent by the "Commander Aircraft, Scouting Force", Lt. Cmdr. Logan Ramsey, from Pearl Harbor to "All U.S. Navy Ships present Hawaiian area" , giving the first news: " AIRRAID ON PEARL HARBOR X THIS IS NO DRILL."

11. News photo of the wreckage-strewn American naval air station at Pearl Harbor during the Japanese raid.

12. Dorie Miller Pin honoring Pearl Harbor hero Dorie Miller. A black messman who was untrained in machine gun use due to rigid Naval segregation policies, Miller took over a machine gun aboard the USS West Virginia and was officially credited with downing two Japanese planes. Miller was honored as one of the first heroes of World War II, and six months after the attack was given the Navy Cross by Admiral Chester Nimitz.