Pearl Harbor - Day of infamy
Ford Island in Pearl Harbor is seen in this aerial photo taken from a Japanese plane on December 7, 1941. Early that Sunday morning, a surprise attack at 7:48 a.m. Hawaiian time was carried out by the Imperial Japanese Navy in two waves - a barrage that lasted two hours and destroyed or crippled 18 U.S. ships, destroyed nearly 300 planes, killed 2,403 servicemen and 68 civilians, and wounded 1,178 others, pulling the United States into World War II.
The next day, President Franklin D. Roosevelt asked Congress to declare war, which it did with just one dissenting vote. FDR proclaimed December 7th a "date which will live in Infamy."
More than 12 million Americans - men and women of the Greatest Generation - served during the course of the war. More than 400,000 of them were killed.
Take-Off
Japanese soldiers wave as a plane departs for an aerial assault on the American military installation at Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941.
USS Shaw
The USS Shaw explodes during the Japanese raid on Pearl Harbor.
All eight U.S. Navy battleships were damaged; four were sunk. All the ships were later raised except for the USS Arizona, which sank with more than 1,000 men onboard. Six were returned to service and participated in the war.
USS Shaw
U.S. sailors standing amid wreckage watch as the USS Shaw explodes, December 7, 1941 on Ford Island, Pearl Harbor, Hawaii.
USS West Virginia
The battleship USS West Virginia is seen afire after the Japanese surprise attack on Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, on December 7, 1941.
USS West Virginia
A small boat rescues sailors from the USS West Virginia after she had suffered a hit in the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor.
USS Arizona
A frame grab from color film taken of an explosion on the USS Arizona as its forward magazine suffers a direct hit. The warship sunk in nine minutes.
USS Arizona
The USS Arizona burns during the bombing of Pearl Harbor, December 7, 1941 in Hawaii.
USS Arizona
The forward superstructure and Number Two 14" gun turret of the sunken USS Arizona after the attack.
USS Arizona
The USS Arizona shortly after the battleship was bombed and destroyed during the surprise attack on December 7, 1941. The vessel at right is a rescue tug.
Observation Scout
One of the 80 U.S. Navy planes wrecked by Japanese bombs and bullets during the air attacks on Pearl Harbor, December 7, 1941. The plane was an OS2U, an Observation Scout built by Vought-Sikorsky.
Anti-Aircraft Fire
A Japanese bomber trails smoke after being hit by anti-aircraft fire during the attack on Pearl Harbor. More than 100 Japanese planes are estimated to have taken part in the attacks; at least 28 were shot down.
Hickam Field
A damaged B-17C bomber sits on the tarmac near Hangar Number 5 at Hickam Field December 7, 1941.
Kaneohe Naval Air Station
PBY-5 seaplanes burn on the tarmac of Kaneohe Naval Air Station.
Kaneohe Naval Air Station
Navy personnel move a damaged PBY-5 seaplane to safety at Kaneohe Naval Air Station.
USS Downes and USS Cassin
Wreckage of the destroyers USS Downes and Cassin. In the background is the battleship USS Pennsylvania, which suffered relatively light damage during the Japanese attack. The Pennsylvania was repaired shortly after the attack.
USS Nevada
The USS Nevada is seen beached at Hospital Point.
USS Raleigh
The 7,050-ton light cruiser USS Raleigh, torpedoed and bombed, is held afloat by a barge; the capsized USS Utah is seen in the background.
USS California
Battered by bombs and torpedoes, the USS California slowly sinks into Pearl Harbor. At extreme right is the hulk of the capsized USS Oklahoma.
Ewa Marine Corps Air Station
A wrecked ambulance is seen at the Ewa Marine Corps Air Station.
Infamy
This draft of Franklin D. Roosevelt's speech delivered to Congress on December 8, 1941, shows FDR's penciled changes, including replacing the opening sentence's "world history" with "infamy."
Ford Island
Eighty-eight-year-old Raymond Richmond of San Diego salutes in front of the USS Oklahoma Memorial on Ford Island on December 7, 2007.
Remembrance
James and Valerie Ruff and their 18-month-old daughter Arianna, examine the edge of the "Healing Field," memorial of 2,500 flags overlooking the Arizona Memorial, during the commemoration marking the 66th anniversary of Pearl Harbor attack in 2007.
Old Salts
Pearl Harbor and World War II veterans Gilbert Meyer, 91, left, and Sam Fryefield, 92, arrive early to a ceremony at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii marking the 73rd anniversary of the Japanese attack on the naval base, on Sunday, Dec. 7, 2014.
Pearl Harbor survivor
Howard Bender shows off his Orange County Chapter of the Pearl Harbor Survivors Association pin, at his Irvine, Calif., home on Monday, December 4, 2017. The 95-year old Naval veteran was aboard the USS Maryland in Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941, when he heard the sounds Japanese planes attacking the U.S. territory.
Pearl Harbor survivor
Pearl Harbor survivor E.J. "Chuck" Kohler uses a .50 caliber bullet to demonstrate how, at the age of 17, he grabbed a machine gun and starting shooting at enemy aircraft during the attack, at a ceremony on the 76th anniversary of the bombing of Pearl Harbor aboard the USS Hornet on Thursday, December 7, 2017, in Alameda, Calif.
Pearl Harbor survivor
Retired Col. Earl Williams stands in front of a B-17 at the March Field Air Museum in Riverside, Thursday, March 7, 2019. Williams was on a B-17 that was shot down during the attack on Pearl Harbor. As he nears his 100th birthday, efforts are underway to secure for him the Purple Heart he never received even though he was wounded.
Pearl Harbor survivor
Pearl Harbor survivor Mickey Ganitch, 99, volunteers at the Disabled American Veteran's office in Oakland, Calif., on Thursday, November 6, 2019. The Navy veteran was aboard the USS Pennsylvania when it was bombed during the attack on December 7, 1941.
USS Cassin Young
A flag is removed from the USS Cassin Young at the Charlestown Navy Yard on December 7, 2020 in Boston. The ship survived two Kamikaze hits during the attack on Pearl Harbor.
Pearl Harbor sailor returns home
Orville Staffenhagen, 88, and his wife, Deloris, and their son, Anthony Staffenhagen, watch as the remains of Navy Fireman 1st Class Neal Todd were taken from a Southwest jet. Todd died in Pearl Harbor, and was returned home to Minnesota on Thursday, July 8, 2021.
A Salute to the Fallen
Gil Nadeau (right), a World War II veteran, and sailors from Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam pay tribute to fallen service members at the USS Utah Memorial during a tour of Pearl Harbor as part of the 80th Anniversary Pearl Harbor Remembrance, December 5, 2021.
80th Anniversary
On the 80th anniversary of the attack that brought America into World War II, President Joe Biden and first lady Jill Biden place a wreath at the World War II Memorial to mark National Pearl Harbor Remembrance Day, in Washington, D.C., December 7, 2021.
Taps
A U.S. Navy musician plays "Taps" in front of the U.S.S. Arizona Memorial during ceremonies marking the attack on Pearl Harbor, at the World War II Valor in the Pacific National Monument in Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, December 7, 2012.
By CBSNews.com senior producer David Morgan