Target America

The Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor in 1941 is remembered as a "date that will live in infamy." Yet, few people realize the Pearl Harbor air raid wasn't the only attempted attack made on US holdings during World War II. From the Japanese attempts at igniting forest fires in Oregon to the teams of German saboteurs with orders to destroy power plants and manufacturing facilities on American soil, Japanese and German armed forces made repeated attempts to attack America directly. Fortunately for the United States, most of these attempts caused little more than inconvenience.

Target America, a one-hour documentary to be shown on the Discovery Military Channel on June 1, explores this little known aspect of World War II along with Hitler's dream to attack America. NewspaperARCHIVE.com, the largest database of newspapers online, is providing a free archive on the attacks during World War II in conjunction with the documentary.

Within the archive you will find newspaper accounts from World War II that detail strikes on the American homeland, from the attack on Pearl Harbor to the Japanese army's last ditch attempt to use balloons to bomb the American northwest. Click on the timeline above to view newspapers in chronological order or begin searching the newspaper pages with your own key words.