America's Involvement In World War II

When the war started, there was no way the world could have possibly known how bad this war would actually become. Fortunately, the United States saw that the Nazi's and their allies would have to be stopped. America's Involvement in World War II contributed to the downfall of the Nazis and their allies. If the United States hadn’t entered the war, it would have been much worse. America joined World War II after the attack on Pearl Harbor. The attack on Pearl Harbor brought the realness of war to America. The United States didn’t hesitate to join the war after Japan’s attack, but why didn’t America enter the war after the war broke out in Europe? The main reason was that the United States didn't want to get involved unless they were directly
The base at Pearl Harbor was thought to be a strong/secured base and able to resist any attack that could be made on it. Pearl Harbor was the stronghold of the United States. In the eyes of the Japanese, Pearl Harbor was not viewed as a powerful base but as a target.“At 7:02 a.m., two radar operators spotted large groups of aircraft in flight toward the island from the north, but, with a flight of B-17s expected from the United States at the time, they were told to sound no alarm. Thus, the Japanese air assault came as a devastating surprise to the naval base,” (History.com staff). Pearl Harbor was attacked by 353 Imperial Japanese aircraft, killing thousands of Americans and destroying many battleships and aircrafts (Pearl Harbor). Americans never saw this attack coming and were not prepared to defend themselves against Japanese fighter planes and their bombs. This attack caused the death of 2,403 Americans. It also caused 1,178 Americans to be wounded (Take A Closer Look: America Goes to War). Five out of eight battleships (USS Arizona, USS Oklahoma, USS California, USS West Virginia and
One of the first major battles that the United State was involved in was in May of 1942, and it was the battle of The Coral Sea (Hambling). After Pearl Harbor, the Japanese were going to try and invade New Guinea and the Solomon Islands (Hambling). U.S. forces, with the help of some Australian ships, moved to try and stop the Japanese. This created the first naval battle fought at a long range of aircraft carriers (Hambling). Multiple types of bombers attacked ships protected by troops. Both sides were struggling to find the each other and were unclear about what ships they had seen and shot at (Hambling). The most severe loss of the battle was the American aircraft carrier, USS Lexington, sinking after catching on fire (Hambling). The battle forced Japan to call off its invasion plans (Hambling). The next major battle that the United States was in was the Battle of Midway, in June of 1942. The Battle of Midway was a horrible defeat for Japan. The Imperial Japanese Navy never fully recovered from their loss. This was a victory for the United States and their allies because of the codebreakers who revealed Japan’s plan to attack the American forces (Hambling). In doing so,