The Windsor Journal

Seventy year after Japan attacked American Forces in Pearl Harbor, the Navy presented to the public a selection of photos taken during the attack.

They are some of the most moving images of the second World War and can be found here.

Among them, the photo at the top is particularly poignant.

Historical revisionists insist today that American victory in the war was assured, and that the Japanese were fighting a losing battle. The argument doesn't stand to any serious criticism, and both combatants knew it well at the time. It was a battle for life or death, and the scales tipped on the allied side only through great sacrifice and a lot of hard work and ingenuity.

Case in point. The photo above shows the destroyer USS Shaw, that was attacked by three Japanese airplanes and was set to fire. Less than half an hour later, the ship's ammunition exploded, destroying the bow of the ship, the dry dock in was in, and two nearby ships. USS Shaw was left a wreck burning in the water.

End of story?

Not by a long shot. As Admiral Yamamoto had warned when he learned that the attack on the sleeping base was unleashed before the official declaration of war, Americans were hardy and would fight with great resolve to win.

He was right.

In the aftermath of the attack, U.S.S. Shaw was pulled from the water, was fitted with a stubby new bow, and sent for repairs to San Francisco. Less than nine months later, the destroyer was ready for action again and took part in the Pacific campaign where it fought valiantly until the end of the war. USS Shaw won 11 battle stars during the conflict.

On its side, Japan was equally resolute. In fact, even the nuclear bombings of Nagasaki and Hiroshima did not deter a faction of the Japanese army to argue for continuing the war. It was Emperor Hirohito's fear that the country would be annihilated, that forced the formal surrender of the Imperial forces on September 2 1945. In fact, a coup to stop the emperor's message to the nation with his admission that the "war did not necessarily develop in Japan's favor" as he put it, was averted at the last moment, and a peace treaty between the two nations was not signed until 1951. Solitary Japanese soldiers across the Pacific did not surrender until sometimes decades later.

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