The infamous attack on Pearl Harbor was the result of a world wide epidemic of arrogance and ignorance. The seriousness of the situation between Japan and the United States was escalating to a point beyond control. While preparing for war with America the Japanese put on a facade of peace. Systemic breakdowns in the governments of both adversary's' contributed greatly to the devastating events of December 7, 1941. The United States had averted the international crisis for years, but the war came breaking in the back door to everyones surprise.
             No one expected an attack on Pearl Harbor. Nearly the entire Pacific Fleet was stationed in Hawaii, including eight battle ships. There were three air fields, three air craft carriers, and three branches of service Army, Navy, and the Marine Core. Naturally, the Americans adopted the logical conclusion that an attack on the Naval Station would be futile. The amount of fire power America had invested in Hawaii became an over ego boost for the service members there. This may account for the lackadaisical attitude shown preceding the attack.
             Service members in Hawaii had developed a pretentious attitude toward work (Zich 52). Constant drilling, and the drudgery of day to day monotonous tasks took a firm grip on the work ethic of those in uniform. It was their sense of pride which feed this pompous state of mind. The naive concept that no one would dare strike a U.S. home port blinded them from the reality of the situation. From the bottom to the very top of the chain of command, critical information was being ignored all Sunday morning long .
             At 0342 Hawaiian time, the destroyer U.S.S. Ward fired upon what appeared to be an enemy mini sub. At 0653 a periscope emerged once again a mere one hundred yards from the Ward's hull; this time the enemy sub was sunk. The commanding officer aboard the Ward relayed the information about the sinking to headquarters. Admiral Bloch a...