Today marks the 75th anniversary of the attack on Pearl Harbor. We have long since made peace with the nation responsible, but Pearl Harbor day will be a part of our history as long as there are people to remember. I wonder how many of our children even know about this?
Five of eight battleships, three destroyers, and seven other ships were sunk or severely damaged, and more than 200 aircraft were destroyed. A total of 2,400 Americans were killed and 1,200 were wounded.
Many people haven’t seen the footage of President Franklin D. Roosevelt walking with his cane (he had had polio as a young adult and was in a wheelchair except for public appearances) to the podium of Congress.
You Tube video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3VqQAf74fsE
His speech that day was brief and began with these stark words, “Yesterday, December 7th, 1941 – a date which will live in infamy – the United States of America was suddenly and deliberately attacked by naval and air forces of the Empire of Japan.” He closed the speech with a declaration of war, but before that he famously said, “Hostilities exist. There is no blinking at the fact that our people, our territory and our interests are in grave danger. With confidence in our armed forces, with the unbounding determination of our people, we will gain the inevitable triumph. So help us God.”
Three days later, Germany and Italy declared war against the United States, and the U.S. government responded in kind.
The American contribution to the successful Allied war effort spanned four long years and cost more than 400,000 American lives, fought by men and women who have been called our ‘greatest generation’.
What also happened that day was the beginning of the transformation of the United States from an isolationist country with the 14th largest military in the world to a global superpower.
God bless the men and women who died that day and the generations of military who followed them to keep us free and safe.
Memorial for the Pearl Harbor Dead on the USS Arizona in Pearl Harbor. The USS Arizona Memorial is built over the sunken wreckage of the USS Arizona, the final resting place for many of the 1,177 crewmen killed on December 7, 1941.
Who could have imagined how this attack would change history?
We will never forget the bravery of the men and women involved in that frightful day. God bless them all.
It also got us formally into the defense of Great Britain. We’d been sending war materiel and pilots for the RAF for a while, but FDR didn’t want to get formally involved. This did it, and maybe in the end decided the outcome of the war.
Thanks for the moving post, Noelle, and the intense photos including the last. <3
Your welcome Diana. I am more sensitive to these events since my son joined the Army.
I can imagine, Noelle. I worked with grieving kids who lost fathers in the early days of the Iraq war, and I feel keenly each loss regardless of the conflict. It’s sobering. Thanks for honoring the day.
Yes, God bless their souls and all who have lost their lives defending our country.
Thank you!
Thanks, Noelle, for an important and well-done remembrance of a tragic day that led to many more tragic days – as well as the indelible stain on America’s history for the incarceration and mistreatment of Americans who happened to have Japanese heritage.
I pray that those of us with cooler heads can band together to prevent a repeat today, targeting Muslims in the name of national security.
xx,
mgh
(Madelyn Griffith-Haynie – ADDandSoMuchMore dot com)
– ADD Coach Training Field founder; ADD Coaching co-founder –
“It takes a village to transform a world!”
The incarceration of the Japanese was indeed shameful. But it seems that’s all anyone remembers. WWII was probably the last war with a clear cut choice between good and evil and if we had not entered the war, who knows where the US would be now, along with the rest of the world. Cooler head would not have worked at that time (think about Chamberlain and our continuing efforts right up until Pearl Harbor) to negotiate with the Japanese). I personally think getting anywhere into the Middle East was and is a big mistake, even as my son is set to leave for Afghanistan for the second time in March. We might have had a chance with that country if we hadn’t gotten into Iraq. Poor kid – this is his fourth tour to the ME and we pray for his safety. I think things are even more dangerous than when he was there the first time.
A beautiful tribute to a tragic time. 🙂
Thank you, Debbie. My uncle was an officer on a submarine in the Pacific during WWII- he never talked about it. I’ve read quite a few books about the fighting in the Pacific and was horrified by what I read. War should be the LAST resort ever.
Amen Noelle.
we visited it a few years ago… very impressive and deeply emotional… <3
We didn’t have time to go there the last time we were on Oahu, but next time. And maybe visit the Punch Bowl too. We did get a tour of the labs at Hickum where they get unknown remains and identify them. Great, important work.
Thank you for the beautiful post, Noelle. For making us pause and remember those who lost their lives and those who served. 💙
It’s clearly a reissue, but I felt something should be said. Too much Christmas, too early, and our children don’t know much of anything about our greatest generation. Thanks, MC.