Old soldiers’ perspectives: Pearl Harbor

MoonHowler

“The mothers suffered the most.”  I think the fathers suffer equally.  It’s hard to imagine that the ones who died were 17 and 18 years old.  That’s the age most kids graduate from high school.

Often Americans envision our military as “fighting men” when actually those men are really someone’s son or daughter.  When we are chest thumping and calling for blood, it is prudent to remember who really goes in on the front lines.

The survivors are few now.  Pearl Harbor is passing into the ages.
Another personal perspective

More reading:  Tom Brokaw:  Pearl Harbor is the birth place of America’s “Greatest Generation”

Pearl Harbor: 75th Anniversary

MoonHowler

After 9-11, I asked my mother how it was different from Pearl Harbor and if she knew at the time how Pearl Harbor was going to affect all of them. She said on that Sunday afternoon, none of them had any idea just how life-altering the attack on Pearl Harbor would be on their lives. Most people had never heard of Pearl Harbor.

“Pearl Harbor” would soon be a household word in every American home.  Yes, it was life-altering for just about everyone in the world at that time and for as much of the future as most of us can imagine.

75 years ago seems like ancient history to many people.  To put some of the passage of time into perspective, Pearl Harbor happened 80 years after the start of the Civil War.  Queen Elizabeth was a young woman driving an ambulance for her country.  She was still a princess.  My mother was going to marry my father in 6 months.  My father would enlist a year to the day after Pearl Harbor.

Pearl Harbor will always be remembered and will always be a solemn day for America.