It was the shock that brought America into WW II which had been raging in Europe and Asia for over 2 years. Russia was fighting for its life against the Nazis after the invasion of that country in September, 1941. France was already under the Nazi jack boot, and Great Britain was up against the wall. It wouldn't take America too long to respond, given the storm clouds brewing over the world for several years. The Japanese had been running amok in China for years, massacring innocent civilians on the whims of the soldiers. Now the Imperial Navy stepped on a hornets nest and woke the Sleeping Giant. Now, they would pay. The tide began to turn at the Battle of Midway six months later in what was the first fleet action that did not include a face off of warships: air power delivered the margins of victory with US Navy aircraft sinking 3 of 4 Japanese aircraft carriers at the cost of 1.
The Japanese would be on the defensive for the rest of the war as the superior power of the US Navy and almost unlimited resources spelled doom for the Imperial Navy.
Few survivors are still living, but a few of the youngest cohort of participants will join veterans' groups to commemorate the attack and pay homage to those who lost their lives. Over half the casualties died inside the hull of the battleship USS Arizona, which rests on the harbor bottom where it remains to this day. Bunker fuel continues to seep to the surface in the vicinity of the hull, a subtle reminder of the sunken tomb. Most of the other ships damaged and sunk were eventually re-floated and refitted to join the battle before the war ended.
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We remember and we'll never forget Pearl Harbor.
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