Five myths about Pearl Harbor

The first significant U.S. offensive did not come until February 1942, when the Pacific fleet began attacks on the Gilbert and Marshall islands.

Before that, the first engagement of Japanese and U.S. forces actually resulted in an American victory. Several hours before the air attack on Pearl Harbor, Japan deployed two-man submarines, or “midget subs,” against the base. The USS Ward, a destroyer on patrol outside the harbor, made first contact with a Japanese sub. It sank the vessel, resulting in two Japanese casualties and no U.S. losses.

Five Myths

A feature from The Post’s Outlook section that dismantles myths, clarifies common misconceptions and makes you think again about what you thought you already knew.

Archive

4. Japanese Americans were the only U.S. citizens rounded up after Pearl Harbor.

Within 48 hours of the attack, more than 1,000people of Japanese, German and Italian descent, all considered “enemy aliens,” were detained by the FBI. By the end of the war, the government had interned, detained or restricted the movements of hundreds of thousands of people. Though Japanese Americans made up the majority of the roughly 120,000 people sent to internment camps, German Americans and Italian Americans were interned in Hawaii, while others were forced to move away from restricted areas on the mainland. In addition, more than 11,000 German residents of the United States were interned as well. An estimated 600,000 people of Italian descent were considered “enemy aliens” and kept under restrictions. Foreign diplomats from Germany, Japan and Italy were also rounded up and held.

The Japanese, though, were dealt with most harshly. Days after Dec. 7, Attorney General Francis Biddle ordered all Japanese Americans to surrender their cameras and broadcasting devices to local police stations. Their bank accounts were frozen, and they faced travel restrictions, among many other limitations. The FBI and the Army called for every Japanese individual to be incarcerated for the duration of the “emergency.” However, Biddle urged Roosevelt to show restraint.

5. The attack on Pearl Harbor convinced the public that the United States should enter World War II.

The attack persuaded Americans to support entering part of the war, not all of it. Before Pearl Harbor, the United States was largely isolationist, and there was almost no call to get involved in another European war. The America First movement, backed by public figures including Charles Lindbergh and Walt Disney, was growing in popularity. Its supporters had announced plans to participate in every congressional race in 1942 and support the most isolationist candidate, whether Republican or Democrat. After the attack, the America First movement came to a halt.

In the papers of Secretary of War Henry Stimson, archivists discovered a draft declaration of war against Japan, Germany and Italy for Roosevelt to deliver to Congress on Dec. 8. But that was scrapped, and FDR asked for a declaration of war against only Japan.

The attack on Pearl Harbor awoke America from its isolationist slumber and bolstered its charge into the Pacific war, but it did not spur entry into the European war. That happened when Nazi Germany and fascist Italy declared war on the United States on Dec. 11, compelling Roosevelt to respond in kind — thus committing the United States to a world war.

outlook@washpost.com

Craig Shirley, the president of Shirley & Banister Public Affairs, is the author of “December 1941: 31 Days That Changed America and Saved the World.”

Read more from Outlook’s Five Myths series, including:

Five myths about Newt Gingrich

Five myths about J. Edgar Hoover

Five myths about 9/11

Five myths about the American flag

Friend us on Facebook and follow us on Twitter.