On Sunday, December 7, 1941, Pearl Harbor on the island of Oahu, Hawaii, was attacked without warning or provocation in the early morning by the Japanese Navy forces. For 6 months the Japanese forces dominated the Pacific war theater.

The Japanese fleet under the command of Admiral Nagumo consisted of six aircraft carriers with a total of 423 planes. A total of 18 U.S. Naval ships were hit with 2335 servicemen and 68 civilians killed and 1178 people wounded.  In the attack the Japanese damaged, destroyed or sank 188 aircraft, eight U.S. Naval battleships, three cruisers and one mine layer.
 

Though the Japanese aerial forces caused heavy damage on the Pacific Fleet their submarines were unsuccessful in finishing off the crippled ships in the harbor. Of the eight battleships damaged in the harbor only two were repaired and returned to duty. Three aircraft carriers were not in the harbor at the time; Saratoga, Lexington and the Enterprise and were spared damage from this dastardly attack. This attack on our armed forces in the Pacific brought the United States into the war, World War II on December 8th 1941.

The Japanese forces were poised for attacks on the Aleutian and Midway islands. Their strategy was clear; control these areas and establish bases for their ships and aircraft giving them the upper hand in the Pacific. Due to U.S. Naval Intelligence decoders the details of their plan was known. On June 4th 1942 the Battle of Midway had begun and the turning point for the U.S. forces and their allies began in this decisive turn of events.
 
At approximately 6:30 am on June 4th the Japanese attacked Midway's two islands; Eastern Island and Sand Island. The damage inflicted on these islands were not sufficient so the Japanese commander called for another air strike. Several attacks occurred on the Japanese fleet with little success. It was not until approximately 10:30 am that the tide was turned against the formidable Japanese. Two squadrons of dive bombers from the U. S. Enterprise carrier and one squadron from the U.S. Yorktown attacked three of the four Japanese aircraft carriers in the area. In a matter of minutes the Japanese carriers, the Akaga, Kaga and the Soryu were on fire and out of commission. The only Japanese aircraft carrier left was the Hiryu which later that day was found and bombed by U.S. forces. The Hiryu was destroyed and sank early morning on June 5th. 
 
In this decisive battle the Japanese lost 4 aircraft carriers, 232 aircraft and 200 experienced pilots, a blow which their navy would never recover from. What was left of the Japanese forces retreated and from this time forward the U.S. forces were an offensive force eventually bringing the U.S. to victory in the Pacific Theater.

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