I was not born at the time. Yet it is still touchstone for me. So much has changed. Yet I can still talk about it for hours.
I will raise a glass in memory tonight.
Yes, it is indeed a watershed date.
The veterans are now becoming few indeed.
On the morning news, an old vet who witnessed the attack was interviewed-his memory was very good-he realled that thge Japanese pilots flew with open cockpits and wore white scarves-and they were so close he could see them laughing.
It wasa an event that changed the world-and now, we face even greater challenges.
Still, it is good to remember.
My father-in-law had a brother stationed there on one of the ships. He went berserk on the anti-aircraft gun, and they had to clobber him to get him to stop. He was never the same, and had a tough life with the trauma he received that day.
My grandparents were married on December 6, 1941. I can still hear in my grandmother’s voice “and he spent the rest of the honeymoon listening to the radio.”
It’s only from their stories that I have any real understanding of that era. My grandfather tried to enlist right away. It was the eye chart that was his undoing. Apparently he was told to take off his glasses and walk forward until he could comfortably read the eye chart. When he walked into it they sent him home.
He worked on the home front as an ordnance inspector. She worked as a nurses’ aide. They told me about their experiences with rationing, and what the war meant to them personally.
It is because of them that I try and attend ceremonies on Memorial and Veterans’ Days. I live a pretty swell life because people made huge sacrifices. It’s the least I can do to try and keep those days from being just about mattress and carpet sales.
Remember, remember, the 7th of December.
What a bad day that was.
Never forget the men who died that day and never forget the services and sacrifices of all of the Greatest Generation
FDR’s “Day of Infamy” speech, the most moving oratory I’ve seen http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3VqQAf74fsE&list=FLVjwqObyhx_NeZgajyw-sfQ&index=319&feature=plpp_video
I spent a few minutes at the US Navy Memorial this morning watching the honor guard run through a drill in memory of this day. It was appropriately cold and rainy.
I will try today to see a vet I know and buy him lunch.
I saw an article about the memorial yesterday and the head of the Pearl Harbour Veteran’s association has announced they’re disbanding at the end of the year. Their remaining members are in poor health and they’ve made the decision to stop now.
The History Channel showed a documentary last night focusing on Roosevelt and the 24 hours between the attack and Roosevelt’s speech. It was interesting, and worth watching if they repeat it.
I didn’t know that after the attack, Churchill was anxious to get to Parliament to ask for a declaration of war against Japan, and that Roosevelt tried to contact him to ask him to hold off until after Roosevelt’s speech. He was concerned that Congress (and Americans) thought he was too influenced by Churchill. Churchill didn’t get the message so his speech came first. Seems so weird, remembering a time when communication wasn’t instant.