It is getting harder to "remember Pearl Harbor."
Not because it's anything less than that "date which will live in infamy," as President Roosevelt so accurately described it a day after the Japanese attack in Hawaii that formally launched the United States into World War II.
What’s the point?
Seventy-five years after an attack that sparked U.S. involvement in World War II, there are still reasons to “remember Pearl Harbor.”
Not because it isn't one of the most shocking events to have ever occurred on U.S. soil.
Not because anyone wants to bestow anything less than the highest honor and respect to the people who, in service to the nation, faced a Sunday morning bombardment meant to weaken the United States' ability to interfere with the Empire of Japan's expansionist goals in the Pacific.
It's getting harder to remember because 75 years separates us from Dec. 7, 1941, and most of the people who witnessed it first hand, who survived the chaotic 90-minute onslaught, can no longer share the experience directly. Having lived through one of the most significant single moments in American history, many have passed away after going on to build their lives and their families. Time's bombardment does not end. We all eventually succumb to our mortality. Those few survivors left are in their 90s, challenged by their advancing years. Before long, American recollection of Pearl Harbor will come from textbooks, film archives, documented interviews and the other resources of historians. It is a voluminous record, a testament to the historic moment that propelled the United States into a war the magnitude of which few could have imagined that December morning.
On Dec. 8, the U.S. Congress declared war on Japan. Days later, Japan's allies, Germany and Italy, joined the war declaration against the Americans. The war across the pond had come home. Now, Americans prepared to take the fight back to their new enemies.
More than 2,300 servicemen died at Pearl Harbor, nearly half of them aboard the USS Arizona, the battleship that for three-quarters of a century now has served as a sunken memorial to members of the U.S. Armed Forces who gave their lives during the attack on Pearl Harbor. The Imperial Japanese Navy flew more than 300 planes from aircraft carriers to attack a naval base a lot of people in the United States had never heard of. The attack shocked Americans to their core. Until then, war had been happening "over there." Although tensions with Japan had been high for years, negotiators had been at work in 1941 to improve relations. Even though many Americans believed war with Japan would eventually come, as surprises go, one could hardly get any bigger than the attack at Pearl Harbor.
As they die, many of the Arizona's survivors choose to be interred inside the battleship, rejoining their shipmates who never grew old.
By 1945, more than 12.2 million Americans served as military personnel in waging war in Europe and the Pacific. More than 400,000 American military personnel died in a world calamity unmatched in human history and the likes of which we pray history will never repeat.
New generations will not have the opportunity to know brave men and women who lived through Pearl Harbor. Before long, the stories of the war will have to come through historical records or recollections passed down. There is much to be learned and not forgotten. "Remember Pearl Harbor" was a needed call to arms in the face of an enemy in the weeks, months and years following Dec. 7, 1941. Today, the passing of time let's us interpret its meaning many ways: as a reminder of the need for preparedness; as a lesson of what can happen when nations fail to resolve differences diplomatically; as a warning of the necessity for standing up to aggressors; as a stark reminder of the suffering of war.
Pearl Harbor also gave us searing images of sacrifice for the greater good; of courage while surrounded by violence and death; of confident leadership in the face of great uncertainty; of the bonds of human beings of every background when united in common purpose.
Remembering Pearl Harbor must also involve reconciliation. Yesterday's warriors do not have to be tomorrow's enemies. Later this month, President Barack Obama will visit Hawaii to join Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe at Pearl Harbor to demonstrate the power of reconciliation. Their two nations, once steadfast adversaries, have become close allies.
Today, remember the dead. Remember the living who gave so much in the name of freedom. And remember that the nation must always be driven by a desire for peace while being prepared to respond to those who do not cherish it.
Commentary on 12/07/2016