For most Americans the day WWII began is December 7th, 1941. While the attack was one of the most devastating to ever occur on American soil, the path to Pearl Harbor had begun August 13, 1937 in Shanghai.
The strategy to involve the West in the war had begun long before the attack that early December morning, as I explain in my video, The Real Beginning of World War II.
The fateful morning was depicted in John Ford's film, December 7th. Actual footage of the attack is interspersed with re-enactments. Below, is the naval dispatch announcing, "AIR RAID ON PEARL HARBOR X THIS IS NOT DRILL"
It was, indeed, a day that has lived in infamy. Today, 75 years since the end of World War II, we remember the lives that were lost and the way the world was forever changed in its aftermath.