Today, December 7, 2011, marks the 70th anniversary of the Japanese attack on the U.S. naval base at Pearl Harbor that ushered America's entry into World War II.
Seventy years is a long time. I can remember when "Pearl Harbor Day," as it was called (officially it is referred to as National Pearl Harbor Remembrance Day) was as much a part of American history that it was marked on every calendar, like Lincoln's Birthday or Armistice Day. Today--not so much.
I asked my teenage son today if he knew what today, December 7, was. He had to think about it for a second but came back with Pearl Harbor Day. I proposed to him that if he asked 20 people the same question 18 wouldn't know. His take was that I could ask 100 and most of them would be clueless. I'm sure most of those 100 could cite me chapter and verse about global warming but little about one of the key events that shaped America into a world power and defined its character. I'm not surprised. It seems as if most American teachers, judging by what they teach, think American history started in the 1960s.
But 70 years is a long time. The saddest news of the day is that the Pearl Harbor Survivors Association gathered today at the memorial in Honolulu for the last time. As of December 31, 2011 the Association will disband, a victim of the passage of time. With the Survivors Association gone, who will be left to testify about Pearl Harbor?
Pearl Harbor remains important in American history for many reasons. The Japanese surprise attack occurred despite the fact that the Americans had broken the Japanese code, were eavesdropping on Japanese communications and knew both the day and the approximate time when an attack would take place.
Twenty years before, it was the Americans who demonstrated just how vulnerable naval vessels could be to the growing threat of air power. In a 1921 demonstration the legendary Billy Mitchell sank three surplus ships. Present at the demonstration was a Japanese naval officer attached to Japan's diplomatic mission in the U.S.
The lesson of Pearl Harbor shaped America's military thinking for the next 60 years. However, over the last decade, we've grown weary of two wars, fighting a shadowy enemy, and being economically crushed by a global recession. As a nation we've disengaged from some of our global responsibilities. But today we face threats at least as formidable as we faced in 1941, as Warren Kozak points out in today's Wall Street Journal. A nuclear-armed Iran. A belligerent Russia. An increasingly belligerent China that holds the power of the purse over our economy. An ever-present threat of Islamic terrorism.
Perhaps we need to study the lessons of Pearl Harbor a little more. We need to gather the intelligence on places like Iran, sift through it, analyze it, and above all, not ignore the facts that stare back at us.
If we can do that, then the Pearl Harbor Survivors and those 2,400 brave souls who went to their death 70 years ago this day can rest easier knowing that we've carried their lesson forward to the present.
Can we do that? The guy who heads up the the Southeast chapter of the Pearl Harbor Survivors Association is quoted today about how we've failed our kids by not teaching them about Pearl Harbor.
Harry Kerr was invited to talk to a school about December 7, 1941. "I was being introduced by a male teacher," said Mr. Kerr. "[the teacher] told the class, 'Mr. Kerr will be talking about Pearl Harbor.’ And one of these little girls said, ‘Pearl Harbor? Who is she?’"
Just thought you might like to know.
Seventy years is a long time. I can remember when "Pearl Harbor Day," as it was called (officially it is referred to as National Pearl Harbor Remembrance Day) was as much a part of American history that it was marked on every calendar, like Lincoln's Birthday or Armistice Day. Today--not so much.
I asked my teenage son today if he knew what today, December 7, was. He had to think about it for a second but came back with Pearl Harbor Day. I proposed to him that if he asked 20 people the same question 18 wouldn't know. His take was that I could ask 100 and most of them would be clueless. I'm sure most of those 100 could cite me chapter and verse about global warming but little about one of the key events that shaped America into a world power and defined its character. I'm not surprised. It seems as if most American teachers, judging by what they teach, think American history started in the 1960s.
But 70 years is a long time. The saddest news of the day is that the Pearl Harbor Survivors Association gathered today at the memorial in Honolulu for the last time. As of December 31, 2011 the Association will disband, a victim of the passage of time. With the Survivors Association gone, who will be left to testify about Pearl Harbor?
Pearl Harbor remains important in American history for many reasons. The Japanese surprise attack occurred despite the fact that the Americans had broken the Japanese code, were eavesdropping on Japanese communications and knew both the day and the approximate time when an attack would take place.
Twenty years before, it was the Americans who demonstrated just how vulnerable naval vessels could be to the growing threat of air power. In a 1921 demonstration the legendary Billy Mitchell sank three surplus ships. Present at the demonstration was a Japanese naval officer attached to Japan's diplomatic mission in the U.S.
The lesson of Pearl Harbor shaped America's military thinking for the next 60 years. However, over the last decade, we've grown weary of two wars, fighting a shadowy enemy, and being economically crushed by a global recession. As a nation we've disengaged from some of our global responsibilities. But today we face threats at least as formidable as we faced in 1941, as Warren Kozak points out in today's Wall Street Journal. A nuclear-armed Iran. A belligerent Russia. An increasingly belligerent China that holds the power of the purse over our economy. An ever-present threat of Islamic terrorism.
Perhaps we need to study the lessons of Pearl Harbor a little more. We need to gather the intelligence on places like Iran, sift through it, analyze it, and above all, not ignore the facts that stare back at us.
If we can do that, then the Pearl Harbor Survivors and those 2,400 brave souls who went to their death 70 years ago this day can rest easier knowing that we've carried their lesson forward to the present.
Can we do that? The guy who heads up the the Southeast chapter of the Pearl Harbor Survivors Association is quoted today about how we've failed our kids by not teaching them about Pearl Harbor.
Harry Kerr was invited to talk to a school about December 7, 1941. "I was being introduced by a male teacher," said Mr. Kerr. "[the teacher] told the class, 'Mr. Kerr will be talking about Pearl Harbor.’ And one of these little girls said, ‘Pearl Harbor? Who is she?’"
Just thought you might like to know.
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