The events of December 7, 1941 mark a monumental moment in United States history.
With each passing year it seems to get increasingly difficult to find much singular agreement on the greater context of what happened that morning. Surely there were enemies, but were there villains? How much of what was coming had been known before that day and by whom? [1,2]
[The] first of two waves of Japanese aircraft began their deadly attack on the US Pacific Fleet, moored at Pearl Harbor on the Pacific island of Oahu. Within two hours, five battleships had been sunk, another 16 damaged, and 188 aircraft destroyed. Only chance saved three US aircraft carriers, usually stationed at Pearl Harbor but assigned elsewhere on the day. The attacks killed under 100 Japanese but over 2,400 Americans, with another 1,178 injured. [3]
The sheer number of lives lost here is staggering. Indeed, it was a benchmark of its kind before modern day experience of 9/11. But Pearl Habor marked not just a formal declaration of war that put America on the battle fields of World War II; it marked an unparalleled, enduring national unification. [4,5,6,7]
Earlier today it was reported that none of the still living survivors of the USS Arizona are expected to attend the annual commemoration this year. Naturally. Even someone as young as eighteen in 1941 would be 95 years old today. [8]
In June of 1963, John F Kennedy placed a wreath at the USS Arizona Memorial as President of the United States. Bookending this, the last World War II veteran to serve in that office, George Bush, spoke at December 7 commemorations in 1991. [9,10]
Before all of that, US President Franklin D Roosevelt spoke before a historic joint session of Congress and to the nation the day after in 1941, characterizing this as “a date which will live in infamy.” Seventy-seven years later, today, this nation reflects on those words — that characterization — and it challenged to assess them in the contexts of both their time and the present.
And surely all must agree that in significant measure because of what happened on that date, the world is a freer place for those assessments to be had.
References
- “Pearl Harbor attack” (November 30, 2018) Encyclopaedia Britannica.
- “How (Almost) Everyone Failed to Prepare for Pearl Harbor” Steve Twomey (December 2016) Smithsonian Magazine.
- “Pearl Harbor: A Rude Awakening” Bruce Robinson (March 30, 2011) BBC.
- “9/11 Attacks” History.
- “USS Arizona Memorial – Page 2” Pearl Harbor Historic Sites.
- “World War II” History.
- “Panel heats up over definition of ‘nationalism’” (October 24, 2018) CNN.
- “Pearl Harbor ceremonies will go on — without 5 remaining survivors of USS Arizona” Amy Lieu (December 7, 2018) Fox News.
- “JFK remembered: A look back at the President’s Hawaii visit” Jim Mendoza (November 22, 2013) Hawaii News Now.
- “MT2990 and MT2991 Speech at Kilo 8 Pier, Pearl Harbor, HI – 07 December 1991” TheBushLibrary (December 5, 2016) YouTube.
