Chapter 3
The United States Enters the War

The morning of December 7, 1941, could not have been more beautiful at Pearl Harbor, on the Hawaiian island of Oahu. Eight American battleships sat moored on Ford Island along what had become known as Battleship Row. Nearby were five cruisers and twenty-six destroyers and at sea were seven other cruisers and the three carriers. Onshore, two army radar operators saw their screens indicate approaching aircraft. They notified an officer, who dismissed their concerns with the explanation that it was probably a flight of American B-17s arriving from California. But the officer was horribly wrong. It would prove to be a costly mistake.