5 Things about the attack on Pearl Harbor that may be new to you, we start with two and the rest follows in the video.
The only dissenting voice.
December 7th, 1941, a day of infamy, the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor. This attack provoked direct US involvement in World War II. You probably think that entering the war was approved unanimously by the US, but it wasn’t, not quite.
Congresswoman Jeanette Rankin, a lifelong antiwar supporter, voted against America’s involvement in World War I and now her decision against involvement in World War II was met with dissent in the gallery and appeals from her colleagues to change her vote, or, at the very least, abstain from voting altogether.
Rankin outraged so many people with her refusal; it was as much as signifying the end of her political career. The Declaration of War against Japan was approved with a final vote count of 388 votes to one, thanks to Rankin’s only opposing vote.
The captured miniature submarine
We all remember ‘the day of infamy’, with the air assault that took place at Pearl Harbor on Dec. 7, 1941. An unfamiliar part of the story is the fact that there were several miniature submarines deployed for assaults against the island at the same time by the Japanese Armed Forces.
One of these mini-subs became immobilized and trapped on a beach in Oahu. It was captained by Kazuo Sakamaki. Sakamaki attempted to blow up the submarine; however, the explosives failed to detonate. The Americans captured the mini sub and Sakamaki, her captain, became America’s first Japanese prisoner of war in World War II.
Once the attack on Pearl Harbor was over and Sakamaki’s submarine was recovered intact, the miniature sub traveled on tour across the United States, where it was used as a source of positive propaganda to raise money by purchasing war bonds.
Now watch the video!