On the peaceful Sunday morning of December 7, 1941, Japanese planes attacked the American fleet at Pearl Harbor in Hawaii and plunged an unsuspecting America into World War II. Today, thousands of tourists each year isit the USS Arizona National Memorial on the island of Oahu to pay tribute to the 2,403 Americans who died in the attack, 1,777 of them aboard the battleship USS Arizona.

The Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor because it was the major base of the U.S. Nay's Pacific Fleet. Bombers and torpedo planes flying from Japanese aircraft carrivers struck at "Battleship Row," where seven American battleships were anchored.

All seven were sunk or damaged. One bomb struck the Arizona's forward magazine, where ammunition was stored, and set off an enormous explosion that broke the battleship in two and sent her to the bottom of the harbor.

The white bridgelike structure of the National Memorial marks the spot where the Arizona went down. Below, the sunken battleship can be seven through the clear waters of the harbor. This memorial is a somber reminder of the day in 1941 that President Franklin D. Rooseelt called "a date that will lie in infamy."

Pearl Harbor Memorial

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