As war raged on in Europe, the United States remained on the sidelines supplying only aid to allied countries. The greatest threat at that time was considered to be Hitler and his German war machine. But on December 7 1941 this idea would drastically change. On this date the island of Pearl Harbor was hit by a surprise attack from Japanese naval and air forces. The Japanese managed to drastically cripple the U.S. Pacific fleet, and had the Pacific carriers been present, the Japanese might have even been able to change the course of the war. This disaster, which enraged the American public, sparked a Declaration of war towards Japan and the other Axis powers. This intern marked the United States formal entry into World War II.Shortly after this incident, Admiral Ernest J. King, Commander in Chief of the U.S. fleet, met with British leaders for the first joint conference, given the code name “Arcadia.” This conference was to reaffirm America’s stance in fighting the European front first and the Pacific front as merely a defensive position. This defensive position was stated as defending “vital interests”, however it was relatively vague. Admiral Chester W. Nimitz, Commander in Chief of the Pacific Fleet, was given the order by Admiral King to protect the U.S.-Australian sea-lanes. This was to be accomplished chiefly by securing the line between Hawaii and the Samoa islands with an extension to the Fiji islands. However this task was not considered high priority and simply “needed to be accomplished” at the earliest possible date.At this same time Japan was expanding their Pacific Empire at an alarming rate over a vast area. This caused military leaders to rethink their view on the pacific front. Dor Brown 2During the first five months of 1942 all branches of the service argued amongst each other about what was needed to defend the Pacific. Many of the top military leaders saw the E...
