Outrage

Outrage. Remember Pearl Harbor. At 7:55 on Sunday morning, December 7, 1941 - "a date that will live in infamy," in the words of President Frankin D. Roosevelt - a Japanese aircraft bombed American bases at Pearl Harbor in the territory of Hawaii, forcing the United States into World War II. The surprise bombing which caused over 3,000 casualties devastated the American Pacific fleet and Hawaii-based bomber and fighter squadrons. The battleship USS Tennessee was heavily damaged in the unprovoked attack., Tennesseans, like millions of Americans, flocked to recruiting stations. Many had already registered, responding to the 1940 Selective Service Act. Tennesseans were among those activated with the National Guard's 30th Infantry "Old Hickory" Division. Americans participate in large-scale Army maneuvers throughout the midstate region from July 1941 to January 1945. , While American prepared for the harsh challenge of war, Imperial Japan made swift conquest of much of the Pacific. By May of 1942, Japan had captured US installations on Guam and Wake Islands, and British, French, and Dutch bases throughout southeast Asia. In the Philippines, the island fortress of Corregidor fell after bitter fighting, followed by the infamous "Bataan Death March, " in which 12,000 American and Filipino prisoners died of maltreatment and starvation. By this time, Japan's expanding empire stretched from Manchuria to the edge of Australia.