Today, on National Pearl Harbor Remembrance Day, we pause to honor and remember the 2,403 Americans killed in the December 7, 1941, Japanese surprise attack on the U.S. Naval Base at Pearl Harbor. The attack propelled the U.S. into the deadliest war in world history — World War II.
On December 8, 1941, President Franklin D. Roosevelt, addressing a joint session of Congress, proclaimed, “Yesterday, December 7, 1941 — a date which will live in infamy,” placing America on war footing against tyrannical regimes. More than 400,000 Americans would ultimately perish fighting for the freedom we enjoy today — a debt that can never be repaid. They are forever known as the Greatest Generation.