ATTACK!

Now over Kahuku Point, Commander Fuchida fired his flare pistol and propelled a “black dragon” into the sky.  His position as aerial commander was made clear by the distinctive red and yellow strip around his plane’s tail.  This was the order to attack. As pre-arranged, at this signal the 183 planes of the first wave broke formation. Dive bombers headed upward for the 12,000 foot mark, horizontal bombers to 3,500 and torpedo bombers plunged to sea level then into mountain passes to avoid detection as they headed for Honolulu military targets.  A second flare confused the attackers, who nonetheless formed a cloud of fire power on a deadly mission.

The second wave had taken off 45 minutes after the leading element.  Consisting of 50 horizontal bombers, 80 dive bombers and 40 fighters, they varied course on signal and made for their targets.

At 7:55 a.m. the first Japanese planes were seen southeast of Hickam Field, fighters soon joined by 28 bombers.  They made three separate attacks in a savage 10-minute assault on the flight line, shops and buildings.  Seven fighters later strafed aircraft taxiing on the field for defense after a lull of 15 minutes, then pounded the base a third time at 9 a.m.  In all, Hickam suffered 42 planes totally destroyed and many more damaged extensively.

Marine Air Group 21 at Ewa, located adjacent to Pearl Harbor, was hit. Situated there, also wing-tip to wing-tip per instructions, were 11 Grumman F4F Wildcat fighters (the newest of USMC fighter planes), 32 Scout dive bombers and six utility planes.  Breaking the sabbatical calm, the approaching roar of strange airplanes, enticed the Officer of the Day away from his breakfast.  He stepped out to see hordes of airplanes in the sky.  Looking at his watch, he read 7:55 a.m.  As the craft drew closer he made the planes out to be Japanese and sprinted toward the guard house to sound the alarm. They came in low over the mountains, skimming smoothly past Barber’s Point and, at 7:57, swooped down on the base with blazing armaments.  There was no chance, and now no need, for sounding the alarm. Flying as low as 20 feet from the ground, 21 “Zekes” spewed armor piercing shells into the airplanes on the flight line.  Pass after pass was made, during the 30-minute attack.  Marines rushed out and valiantly began firing at the warplanes with the red-insignias, armed only with rifles and pistols.  Destroyed were nine Wildcats, 18 Scouts and all but one utility plane.  A second wave of “Zekes” was followed by “Vals” which had joined the first group about 15 minutes after the attack began, concentrating on buildings, installations, hospital tents and personnel. The third attack was by 15 “Zekes.”  But this time, Marines had put into action some spare machine guns.  Joining them were ground crewmen manning rear-cockpit guns in some of the riddled dive-bombers.  They shot down one fighter plane, and damaged several others.  Four Marines were killed, 33 of their planes devastated and 16 left too badly damaged to fly.

At one minute after 8, Pearl Harbor and Ford Island were overrun by attacking planes.  Japanese bombers destroyed 33 of the 70 planes on Ford Island.  Seconds later, dive bombers and torpedo planes struck at warships in the harbor on a sustained basis.  Within 30 minutes, torpedo planes made four attacks, dive bombers eight; and after a 15-minute lull, another half hour of vicious bombing and torpedo attacks was started, finally ending at 9:45 a.m.  Most of the attacking planes approached Pearl Harbor from the south.  Some came from the north over the Koolau Range, where they had been hidden en route by large cumulus clouds. The Pacific Fleet’s in-place 94 vessels were pummeled.  Most heavily hit was the battleship force. Within a short span of time, all seven battleships had been hit at least once…

Source: Hawaii Aviation | December 7, 1941

On December 7, 1941, Japan attacked the United States Pacific Fleet at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, killing thousands and destroying U.S. military ships and planes. Congress declared war against Japan the following day. At the end of the war, after seven military and presidential investigations had identified different reasons for the lack of U.S. preparedness at Pearl Harbor, Congress created a joint committee to review possible lapses in intelligence. Its findings led Congress to pass the National Security Act of 1947 to modernize national security agencies and coordinate military readiness. Source: Honolulu Star-Bulletin, front page, December 7, 1941 | U.S. Capitol Visitor Center

Air Raid On Pearl Harbor

On December 7, 1941, Japanese planes attacked the United States Naval Base at Pearl Harbor External, Hawaii Territory, killing more than 2,300 Americans. The U.S.S. Arizona was completely destroyed and the U.S.S. Oklahoma capsized. A total of twelve ships sank or were beached in the attack and nine additional vessels were damaged. More than 160 aircraft were destroyed and more than 150 others damaged.

A hurried dispatch from the ranking United States naval officer in Pearl Harbor, Admiral Husband Edward Kimmel, Commander in Chief of the United States Pacific Fleet, to all major navy commands and fleet units provided the first official word of the attack at the ill-prepared Pearl Harbor base. It said simply: AIR RAID ON PEARL HARBOR X THIS IS NOT DRILL.

The following day, in an address to a joint session of Congress, President Franklin Roosevelt called December 7, 1941 “a date which will live in infamy.” Congress then declared War on Japan, abandoning the nation’s isolationism policy and ushering the United States into World War II. Within days, Japan’s allies, Germany and Italy, declared war on the United States, and the country began a rapid transition to a wartime economy by building up armaments in support of military campaigns in the Pacific, North Africa, and Europe.

Source: Today in History – December 7 | Library of Congress

Pearl Harbor is a U.S. naval base near Honolulu, Hawaii, that was the scene of a devastating surprise attack by Japanese forces on December 7, 1941. Just before 8 a.m. on that Sunday morning, hundreds of Japanese fighter planes descended on the base, where they managed to destroy or damage nearly 20 American naval vessels, including eight battleships, and over 300 airplanes. More than 2,400 Americans died in the attack, including civilians, and another 1,000 people were wounded. The day after the assault, President Franklin D. Roosevelt asked Congress to declare war on Japan. Japan and the Path to War The attack on Pearl Harbor was a surprise, but Japan and the United States had been edging toward war for decades. The United States was particularly unhappy with Japan’s increasingly belligerent attitude toward China. The Japanese government believed that the only way to solve its economic and demographic problems was to expand into its neighbor’s territory and take over its import market. To this end, Japan declared war on China in 1937, resulting in the Nanking Massacre and other atrocities. American officials responded to this aggression with a battery of economic sanctions a

Source: Pearl Harbor: Attack, Casualties & Facts – HISTORY

Hindutva refers to the belief that India is inherently a Hindu nation. For India’s current leadership, people who defend secular constitutional laws and human rights are betraying not only the Hindu nation, but India as well. India and Hindutva, for the Modi administration, are one and the same.

This discourse is bolstered by sub-narratives and policies aiming to eliminate Muslims and undermine other minorities. Critics and journalists may also sometimes be charged under the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act (UAPA) if they report on perspectives that clash with those of the government.

In early November, local police in the state of Tripura filed a case against 102 Twitter accounts under the UAPA for spreading false information about a recent outbreak of anti-Muslim violence in the region.

In its reporting on the case, Asian News International (ANI), a large Indian news agency, gave precedence to the police’s statement, tacitly reaffirming the narrative that anyone who shed light on Islamophobic attacks opposes Hindu majority rule. Such actions, according to this narrative, is essentially seditious, or “anti-national.”

“Indian Armed Forces in Kashmir only target and kill militants”

In August 2019, the BJP stripped Kashmir of its rights to statehood, which were granted at the time of India’s independence. The Indian military has since employed heavy-handed crackdowns and frequent communication shutdowns to repress any form of dissent. Today, some regions in Kashmir have no access to the internet.

Mainstream media, the BJP-led government, and the Armed Forces justify human rights violations in Kashmir by citing national security.

Source: Undertones: A deep-dive into Indian hyper-nationalism · Global Voices