During WWII the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor to obliterate the powerful and important Pacific Fleet. Their goal was to keep America from interfering with Japan’s conquest to gain control of Southern Asia without the U.S. becoming a problem. Japan killed 2403 people and only 68 were civilians. If you only count the military personnel that were killed over half of them were on board the U.S.S. Arizona when it flipped over. This caused the U.S.A. to retaliate with great force. America were the first people to use atomic bombs in a war. President Truman was afraid that any mission that went into Japan would result in many casualties so he recruited men that were ready to serve their country. They were aware that it would be a suicide mission. Hiroshima was bombed on August 6, 1945. Nagasaki was bombed August 9, 1945