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Question: Saw pearl harbour (movie) now im confused when U!.S joined ww2!!?
ok acording to history the U!.S declared war on Japan after the attack on Pearl Harbour and after that Germany declared War on the U!.S
That part I got but a couple of scenes from the movie got me confused!.!.!.

Rafe (ben afleck) leaves to go fight Nazis while Danny (josh harnett) stations in pearl harbour

Throughout the movie Rafe is shown fighting in the skies against what he says (when he returns to pearl he says something about the Luttewaffes') aka Nazi air force!.
That is the part that got me confused!. I thought the U!.S joined the war after the attack on Pearl Harbour!. If that fact is true then whi is it depicted in the movie that an American is fighting Nazis before the attack!?

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Best Answer - Chosen by Asker:
Ben Affleck's character volunteered to join an Eagle Squadron!. Eagle Squadrons were made up of US airmen who volunteered to fight in the Royal Air Force during the Battle of Britian!. They weren't fighting under the US flag but the British flag and were not attached to an American unit!. It's very similar to what happened during WWI with the Lafayete Escadrile, American pilots volunteering to serve in the French Air Force while the US remained neutral!.

While the Eagle Squadrons were Americans volunteering to fight the war in Europe for Britian, the Flying Tigers were the same thing in China!. American airmen who volunteered to fight against the Japanese for China!.

This does not mean that the US was actually officially fighting the war!. Offically, these airmen had to "resign" as Navy or Army Air Corps pilots and thus become private citizens!. As such they did not represent the US government and could do anything they choose!. One of the things I learned concerning the Flying Tigers during the summer of '91 on PBS was that it was actually a secret program that created the Tigers arranged by FDR (don't know if the same holds true for the Eagles)!. What was revealed is that Claire Chennault was allowed to look through the Navy and AAC for highly qualified pilots!. When he found them, he asked if they were willing to volunteer to fight against the Japanese for China!. If yes, they were quickly discharged and shipped as soon as possible to China (they did have to wait a little so as to appear to be true private citizens)!. However, if the US was to enter the war, then they were to be recommissioned in either the Navy or the AAC as soon as was possible!.Www@QuestionHome@Com

Rafe was not fighting with a US unit against Germany!. He volunteered to go to England and help fight the Germans as part of an English unit!. Americans were also fighting the Japanese before the attack on Pearl Harbor with the Fighting Tigers in China!.Www@QuestionHome@Com

Little Bizzle is correct but this is only a movie where they play fast and loose with the facts and this has little if nothing to do with the History CategoryWww@QuestionHome@Com

the movie isnt all real fact some has been changed to fit the characters in the movie but you are correct on how we entered the war after pearl harbor Www@QuestionHome@Com

Okay - here goes!.
Many American pilots joined the Royal Air Force prior to the United States joining in the War!. They went to Canada and joined up from there or, if already in Britain, did so in Europe!.
Technically, they were committing treason, and were warned against doing this, but their sense of honor and abhorrence of the Nazi regime made them not care!. They wanted to fight!.
In Churchill's famous Battle of Britain speech he refers to them!. "Never in the field of human endeavour have so many owed so much to so few!." (sic) He was referring to ALL pilots, but singled out the Americans!.
When the U!.S!. was attacked some returned and flew for the U!.S!. - most stayed in the R!.A!.F!. MOST did not survive the War!.

Rafe joined the R!.A!.F!. - Danny wasn't old enough yet!. Rafe gets shot down, all here are told he was killed, miracle of miracles he comes home a year or so after and joins the USAAF!. Danny joined up when he was old enough - before we were in the War officially, but did not go to England, They serve together in the Doolittle Raid on Tokyo!. Danny dies - Rafe lives another day and marries the girl and they raise DANNY's baby as Rafe's!.Www@QuestionHome@Com

This film has some serious dramatic problems!. I would suggest using the accompanying disks for more information about relations between the US and Japan over the preceding century for more historical detail!.

Rafe left in uniform, evidently with Major Doolittle's blessing if memory serves!. That kind of thing just didn't happen!.

We had American pilots fighting with the RAF, but they went over as civilians, and joined up in Britain, or went north to Canada!.

And I don't remember the film as well as you must have since you've just seen it, but if you want to get into the details (and believe me, the last time I used this film as an example I heard from someone who does, quite correctly too) Pearl Harbor was a naval base and Rafe and Danny were both US Army Air Force, which would have put them at Hickam, or Wheeler or one of the other army bases!.

The person who e-mailed me and pointed out the flaws in this film and I both agreed that Tora Tora Tora, a cooperative effort between US and Japanese production teams made in the seventies was much closer to the actual facts of the case!.

Still, and I guess its the sentimentalist in me, I get a catch in my throat when I see that bomb stop in the forward magazine of the Arizona!. Www@QuestionHome@Com