History of Hawaii
Pearl Harbor was surprisingly attacked on December 7, 1941 by the Imperial Japanese Navy, killing 2,403 people and sinking the main American battleship fleet. Fortuitously, the four Pacific aircraft carriers were not in port and escaped damage. Hawaii was put under martial law until 1945. Unlike the West Coast of the United States in which 100,000 ethnic Japanese citizens were interned, the Japanese American population in Hawaii completely avoided such similar fate, though hundreds of pro-Japan leaders were arrested. Pearl Harbor was the U.S.' main forward base for the Pacific War. The Japanese tried to invade in summer 1942 but were defeated at the Battle of Midway. Hundreds of thousands of American soldiers, sailors, Marines, and airmen passed through on their way to the fighting.
Pearl Harbor Commemorative Medal
On September 23, 1996, Congress authorized (P.L. 104-201, 110 Stat. 2654) anyone who would have qualified for the medal other than the requirement for membership in the Armed Forces to receive the award. (i.e. civilians who were not killed or injured but can show that they were present in Hawaii on December 7, 1941, and participated in combat operations against the attack.)