Unintended Consequences and Pearl Harbor

When the Empire of Nippon launched its massive attack on Pearl Harbor on the morning of 7 December 1941, Airman 1st Class Shigenori Nishikaichi was among the raiders, escorting a group of bombers in his Zero fighter. After two successful runs, the bombers were seeking further targets when, seemingly from nowhere, a flight of nine US air fighters attacked them. The US forces were flying P-36As, and were hugely outclassed by the Zeros. Despite the advantage of surprise, the US planes were quickly dispatched.

Nevertheless, one round had punctured the fuel tank of Shigenori Nishikaichi's fighter, and he began losing fuel. That single bullet set into motion events that would eventually lead to United States interning more than one-hundred thousand people of Japanese heritage–despite their citizenship–in concentration camps for the remainder World War II.

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