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.
DECEMBER 7, 1941, A DATE THAT WILL LIVE IN INFAMY.
Seventy-five years later I still remember this date, a “date that will live in infamy.” I don’t remember what time we heard about Pearl Harbor but I was reading the comics to my brother Tom on that fateful Sunday morning. He was 6 and I was 8. He was in the first grade and I was in the third. He was still learning about Dick, Jane and Spot and I was beginning to learn about multiplication and fractions. He is now a retired PhD and I’m a retired Navy captain.
We had a big Philco radio in the living room of our home at 403 K Street, NW in Miami, OK. It was on I suppose to listen to some Sunday radio show or perhaps some music. When the announcer broke in and told us about what was happening in Hawaii, we could hardly believe our ears.
Today, we are politically solid with Japan, I have a daughter-in-law who is Japanese-American and I have many friends who are married to beautiful Japanese women. I have a granddaughter who is living Japan at present, teaching English to Japanese school kids and adults. She has a Japanese boyfriend who is a chef. I have been to Hiroshima and have seen what an atomic bomb did seventy-one years ago.
We all should take a few minutes today to reflect on all that occurred on this day and the lives that were lost and the sacrifices that were made by the greatest generation, our parent’s generation. Our enemies are now our friends. President Barak Obama has gone to Hiroshima to reflect on what happened there and now Prime Minister Shinzo Abe will be going to Pearl Harbor to pay respect to all those who died during the war started here by Japan.
The world is not a peace and many young men and women are still dying in the name of peace. God bless them and God bless the United States of America.
George, thank you for sharing your memories and your perspective.
For your enjoyment:
http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/world/2016/12/01/tom-brokaw-essay-pearl-harbor-greatest-generation/94035576/