Japanese war crimes
The U.S. officially classified all 3,649 military and civilian casualties and destruction of military property at Pearl Harbor as non-combatants as there was no state of war between the U.S. and Japan when the attack occurred. Joseph B. Keenan, the chief prosecutor in the Tokyo Trials, says that the attack on Pearl Harbor not only happened without a declaration of war but was also a treacherous and deceitful act. In fact, Japan and the U.S. were still negotiating for a possible peace agreement which kept U.S. officials very distracted when Japanese planes bombed Pearl Harbor. Keenan explained the definition of a war of aggression and the criminality of the attack on Pearl Harbor:
Robert Uhlmann
While across the island in Pearl Harbor the Pacific Fleet fought for survival, Fleet Air Detachment, Naval Air Station, Kaneohe, waged its own battle against the Japanese attackers with only rifles and machine guns. A short time later, a second wave of enemy planes flew over, bombing vulnerable hangars and planes, and destroying the hangar where many members of Patrol Squadron 12 were obtaining replenishment ammunition for machine guns. Additional strafing attacks followed; and, before the morning was over, eight patrol bomber seaplanes were destroyed, and all 35 planes which had been on the ground when the attack began were out of commission. Air station personnel shot down two Japanese planes and scored hits on the fuel tanks of seven others, but the material and human costs were high. Among the dead at the end of the battle was Ensign Uhlmann who had joined with VP-12 in the courageous attempt to repulse the enemy.