<Tr> <Td> </Td> <Td> This article needs additional citations for verification . Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources . Unsourced material may be challenged and removed . (April 2008) (Learn how and when to remove this template message) </Td> </Tr> <P> Scholars have identified various events as being the first engagement of neutral United States in World War II before the attack on Pearl Harbor . They disagree on which events led to formal entry of the United States into the conflict . </P> <Ul> <Li> On 31 August 1937 In a friendly fire incident Chinese warplanes accidentally attack SS President Hoover killing Mess Steward S. Haskell and wounding 1 crewman and six passengers . </Li> <Li> On 30 November 1937 the American tugboat Felting at the French concession at Shanghai is seized by the Japanese; the U.S. Flag is thrown overboard and a wooden plaque on the ships origin is torn off and used to strike a Chinese crewman; the tug was "returned" 1 December 1937 . </Li> <Li> On 12 December 1937 the attack on the United States gunboat USS Panay by Japanese forces in China (usually referred to as the Panay incident) could be considered as the first hostile American action during World War II . Two U.S. Navy crewmen and two civilians were killed; 43 Navy crewmen and five civilians were wounded . Although the war was not officially declared in Europe until Germany invaded Poland on 1 September 1939, Japan had been involved in military actions against China since 1931 . </Li> <Li> On 26 January 1938, in what was known as the Allison incident, John M. Allison, at the time consul at the American embassy in Nanking, was struck in the face by a Japanese soldier . Even though the Japanese apologized formally on 30 January (after the Americans demanded they do so), this incident, together with the looting of American property in Nanking that took place at the same time, further strained relations between Japan and the United States, which had already been damaged by the Panay incident less than two months earlier . </Li> <Li> On 3 September 1939 SS Athenia was the first British liner to be torpedoed and sunk after Britain declared war on Germany, by U-30 . Total casualties were 112, including 28 US citizens . </Li> <Li> On 21 April 1940 the first American military death in the European Theatre occurred during the German invasion of Norway . Military attaché Captain Robert M. Losey was killed during a German bombardment of Dombås while assisting with the evacuation of U.S. embassy personnel and others to Sweden . </Li> <Li> On 4 September 1941 during the "Greer Incident" the destroyer USS Greer was fired upon with torpedoes by U-652 . </Li> <Li> On 18 October 1941 HMS Broadwater is sunk by U-101 . Among the fatalities is Lt John Stanley Parker RNVR an American </Li> <Li> Either the casualties inflicted on USS Kearny by U-568 on 17 October 1941 (11 KIA) or the sinking of the USS Reuben James by U-552 on 31 October 1941, (115 KIA) might be considered the first American naval losses of World War II . The United States was neither officially involved in the war at the time nor did the incidents cause them to declare war . </Li> </Ul> <Li> On 31 August 1937 In a friendly fire incident Chinese warplanes accidentally attack SS President Hoover killing Mess Steward S. Haskell and wounding 1 crewman and six passengers . </Li>

When did the us first fight in ww2
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