Today is probably the last major memorial for the Pearl Harbor attack and "the day that will live in infamy" . . . The last remaining survivors are worried that younger Americans are forgetting the impact of the deadly sneak attack and they're probably right.
Last year on this day we wrote about the conspiracy theories surrounding the event that are still hotly debated.
Today, given faltering public schools in both the urban core and the suburbs along with the fact that most people are busy looking at their phones . . . It seems that that time is the greatest threat to an important lesson . . . That the U.S. is not invincible and will confront serious, deadly challenges that will test the strength and character of the nation.
Relevant links . . .
History Channel: Pearl Harbor: The Truth
Daily Beast: The Attack on Pearl Harbor 75 Years Later
Wall Street Journal: Pearl Harbor Survivors Gather for 75th Anniversary Reunion
New York Times: New York Today: Remembering Pearl Harbor
LA Times: A Pearl Harbor survivor spent decades trying to forget it. Then one man got him talking.
New York Daily News: Black sailor's Pearl Harbor heroics helped end racism in military
Huff Post: Pearl Harbor Survivors Do The Mannequin Challenge Like Seasoned Pros
Accordingly, a question for our blog community . . .
IS PEARL HARBOR STILL RELEVANT AND WHAT CAN WE LEARN FROM THE HISTORIC ATTACK 75 YEARS LATER???
You decide . . .
My father was at Schofield Barracks with one week to go, on December 7th 1941. He went on to fight at Coral Sea, Midway, Leyte Gulf, Savo Islands and other engagements. He was on the USS New Orleans when she had her bow shot off by torpedo and spent three terrified weeks, heading into Australia, in reverse at 2 knots, hoping that the Japanese would somehow miss this sitting duck.
ReplyDeleteThey did.
God bless all Vets, for their service, for their courage and God Bless America.
My father was truly a great man before and after the war. A stand up guy who never shirked a task and never, never complained.
I wish I could have been more like him.
Let's not forget 9-11-01, NY,PA,DC attacks on the U.S., said to be another Pearl Harbor.
ReplyDeleteVery many "young" American patriots of all demographics deployed soon after. Like WW2, Korea, VietNam, Desert Storm, and other ME wars, our current warriors HAVE TAKEN THE FIGHT TO FOREIGN SHORES while we live here in a secured relative peace (well, maybe not ShowMeMogadishu, MO,-- WindyCityChiRaq,IL,--MotorCityDarfur,MI,--etc.).
Not ALL YOUNG in America are crybabies or criminals, nor unaware or unwilling to be the forces for good to this nation. Most don't glorify war, but AIN'T taking sh*t from anybody.
Kumbaya AIN'T gonna be happening everywhere anytime soon it seems, so guard our shores and batten down our borders! FREEDOM ISN'T FREE !!!
My father was wounded and nearly killed fighting the Japs. Many long stories. Main lesson of many to be learned: Do not trust the inscrutable Oriental. Not a lot of Christian values in that pagan bunch. Read about the Bataan death march or the rape of Nanking China.
ReplyDeleteFar into his fifties we finally got deeper revelations about his service years from a reluctant veteran. Our U.S. Air Force aerial recon dad saw how filthy and forlorn many Korean families were living on both sides of that 38th parallel. He refused to detail, entirely, the violence and abuse he documented, especially what some Korean families perpetrated on their own and others' wives and children. He said emphatically and repeatedly, his take on communism is that it's crooks and cruelty. He spoiled the world's best Mom, a house full of kids, each succession of puppies, and later his many grandkids. I wish he'd lived longer to enjoy the first great-grandchild, my first grandson!
ReplyDelete