“Remember Pearl Harbor!”

That’s not just an old song title from the 1940s. I know, most people who read this post will complain that they don’t remember the 1940s. “Why should we?” they will say. Well, there are several reasons. But let’s begin with today, December 7, 2022.

If you are displaying the American flag at your home or place of work, lower the flag to half-staff. It is a commemoration, a solemn commemoration of the surprise attack on the United States naval fleet stationed at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii on that Sunday morning in 1941, an attack that cost the lives of thousands of American Sailors, Marines, and Soldiers. They were sleeping in their bunks, or attending church services, or just going about their routines when the attack began just before 8 am[i].

Then they appeared, the Japanese aircraft that launched their massive attack with studied precision on the sleeping American naval installation. When it was over, most of the ships in the harbor had been sunk or badly damaged, and rendered out of operation. The now well-known battleship, Arizona, in particular, went down with much of its crew, over 1100 sailors and marines, still interred in their watery grave[ii]. The bridge of the Arizona remains above water and has been maintained as a national symbol of the sacrifice of our military personnel on that fateful day.

Then-President of the United States, Franklin Delano Roosevelt, speaking before an emergency joint session of Congress, announced to the nation the tragic outcome of the attack that he described as “…Sunday, December 7, 1941, A Day that will live in Infamy….” And so it was. But it was also that terrible event on that terrible day that propelled the United States of America into World War Two, a war that already had been raging in Europe for over two years.

America had, for the most part, been sleeping, holding fast to isolationism, and despite the warnings from knowledgeable world watchers at home and abroad, preferred to stay out of European entanglements. Up to that point, the outside world, for most Americans, could go its own way. At home, we were just fine as we were, away from the crises and wars that troubled European history for centuries. But the world was changing, and not about to leave America out of the mix, and by the end of the war, we had become involved everywhere. The world was becoming a global society, and America had become an integral part of it, indeed, an indispensable part of it. And when some people say, “We don’t need to be involved in NATO, or the UN, or other alliances or global arrangements,” remember that there can be no return to isolationism in this world of supersonic air travel, multinational corporations, Internet, social media, drones in peace and war, and who-knows-what else is coming down the line. The world has grown smaller, and we are smack dab in the middle of it.

So, as we remember Pearl Harbor, and commemorate the men and women who served their country so valiantly in the midst of great peril on that awful day, let us not forget the lessons of that pivotal time in history. America must remain vigilant and prepared. We must nurture our global ties with our friends, but also seek to balance carefully our relationships with friends and adversaries alike.

The complexities of the global arena demand leadership capable of dealing with those complexities, and that needs an informed citizenry that understands and accepts what such challenges entail. As citizens we must continue to respect our founding principles and remain loyal to our Constitution and our democratic values. That is what the “greatest generation” fought a bloody world war to preserve and defend.

In turbulent times, we have come dangerously close to losing those values and, in turn, losing the core of our democratic republic. Self-serving demagogues who push their own agendas, promote the politics of exclusion, and stir up angry mobs with shameless mendacity have appeared in our history from time to time. We have rejected them before and committed them and their chicanery to the dustbin of history. And we will again, if we hold steadfastly to our national values and stand behind responsible leadership that takes seriously its oath of office.

That’s why we must not fail to remember what history has to tell us. Or be doomed to repeat it.

May God in His mercy remember all those who suffered and died for our freedom.

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[i] THE AFTERMATH

• A total of 2,404 United States military and civilians were killed, 1,177 were killed aboard the USS Arizona and 68 civilians were killed. A total of 64 Japanese military were killed with one taken prisoner
• 15 United States Navy personnel received the Medal of Honor and 51 received the Navy Cross. The Pearl Harbor Commemorative Medal was later given to all military veterans of the attack.

Sources: Naval History and Heritage Command, National WWII Museum

[ii] The USS Arizona Memorial, at Pearl Harbor in Honolulu, Hawaii, marks the resting place of 1,102 of the 1,177 sailors and Marines killed on USS Arizona ….

Source: Wikipedia