Saturday, Dec. 7, passed with little fanfare.
I was born in 1950. I doubt any child raised during the early years of my life failed to hear about the infamous attack by Japanese warplanes on the U.S. naval base at Pearl Harbor. Dec. 7 each year was a day we paused to remember not only the attack and loss of life and ships, but to remember the horrible war that followed.
Of course, 1950 was only nine years after the attack, roughly the same time frame as Sept. 11, 2001 is to us today. Memories of Pearl Harbor during my childhood were just as vivid for us raised then as 9-11 is for American young people today.
The major difference is that while we went to war with al-Qaeda in Iraq and Afghanistan after 9-11, in 1941 the United States joined World War II as a full belligerent after the Pearl Harbor attack.
Seventy-two years is a long time ago from our short-term perspectives today. We generally do not hear the exhortation to “Remember Pearl Harbor.” To so many, Pearl Harbor seems a part of ancient history.
But for the men and women stationed at Pearl Harbor who still survive, the attack is not ancient history. For the families whose loved ones ended up serving in the mobilization of “The Greatest Generation,” memories of Pearl Harbor are as fresh as today’s headlines.
By the time the two-hour bombing raid ended, more than 3,500 Americans were dead or wounded. The attack crippled U.S. naval forces in the region, damaging or destroying 350 aircraft and sinking or badly damaging eight battleships. Amazingly, not one aircraft carrier stationed in the area was damaged.
Hostilities between the United States and Japan began shortly after Japan took over what was then called French Indo-China. The U.S. placed an embargo on Japan prohibiting export to Japan of scrap iron, steel and aviation fuel.
Between June of 1941 and the end of July 1941, Japan had occupied large sections of French Indo-China, so the United States, Great Britain and the Netherlands froze the banking assets of Japan. This move kept Japan from buying oil. In time, these nations believed, a fuel shortage would cripple Japan’s army and navy.
When the Axis powers had nearly defeated the Soviets toward the end of 1941, Japan seized the opportunity to exploit oil resources in Southeast Asia. The U.S. government wanted to stop Japan, but the American people opposed going to war. As long as World War II was chiefly a European war, the American people wanted no part.
Pearl Harbor changed that feeling. For the American people, stunned at what they viewed as an unprovoked attack, “Remember Pearl Harbor” became the battle cry of an awakened and now furious giant. On Dec. 8, 1941 — the day after Pearl Harbor, the U.S. declared war on Japan.
Local resident Margaret Wade, a member of the ladies auxiliary of VFW Post 2771, was only six at the time of the attack on Pearl Harbor. She was living in England. Axis forces pounded Europe.
“I am not saying [the attack on Pearl Harbor] was a good thing,” she told Free Press writer Margaret Fisher, “but it was a good thing for Europe that Pearl Harbor happened because up until that point, we were struggling. If America had not joined us, who knows what would have happened.”
By the end of World War II, 416,800 American service personnel gave their lives during the war effort. Worldwide, more than 60 million people, military and civilian, died as a result of the war — 2.5 percent of the world’s entire population.
I want to end today with a word of thanks to all the veterans who served during this horrible war. My heart especially goes out to those who survived Pearl Harbor — and to the families of those whose loved ones were part of the 3,500 who lost their lives on that infamous day.
Today, “Remember Pearl Harbor” should not be a cry for revenge.
“Remember Pearl Harbor” should be a summons to remembrance and gratitude.
Mike Parker is a columnist for The Free Press. You can reach him at mparker16@suddenlink.net or in care of this newspaper.