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:
List of Medal of Honor recipients for the Attack on Pearl Harbor
For their actions during the attack on Pearl Harbor, 15 sailors in the U.S. Navy (from seven ships and one Naval Air Station) were awarded the Medal of Honor. As noted below, a 16th Medal of Honor was awarded to a Marine for an encounter that day, at a Naval Air Station on Sand Island in the Hawaiian Islands, with units of the same Japanese attack fleet. The 16 recipients held a wide range of ranks, from seaman to rear admiral. Eleven received their awards posthumously.