How Short Lived, Infamy
The USS Arizona was destroyed in the attack on Pearl Harbor.Over 1000 Navy servicemen died onboard.
64 years ago today, the Land of the Rising Sun attacked the United States in a sneak attack at Pearl Harbor, setting forth a chain of events which led to the eventual destruction of Nazi Germany and dismantling of the Japanese Empire. Then President Franklin Delano Roosevelt stated in his once famous speech:
Yesterday, December 7, 1941 - a date which will live in infamy...
How long lived is such a date? Well, after 64 years that infamy has faded into black. It is sad to think that we have forgotten all the people who lost their lives that day, that gave their lives in service of their country. The families whose lives were shattered. How close that day came to changing the future of this nation for the worse. And, no, I'm not talking about the Hollywoodified crap movie. I've been to Pearl Harbor, having lived in Hawaii while growing up. I've been to the Arizona memorial. You can look down into the water and still see the ship is leaking oil, 64 years after it was bombed and took over 1000 American lives down with it into the depths of the bay. 1000 lives on ONE SINGLE SHIP were lost with the USS Arizona. Nearly 2000 more died that day on other ships and on the base there. Many more died on other bases that same day. Over 1000 of those lost on the Arizona remain there - the ship is their tomb.
It's a very different feeling you have when you look down at that ship, sitting just a bit below the surface, it's smokestack jutting right at the wake of the water, knowing there are the remains of fellow countrymen, now dead, who gave their lives, well... for we fellow Americans.
Yet, this morning on one of the monopolous Clear Channel stations, I heard the DJ talk about Pearl Harbor Day with these (paraphrased) words -
Yeah, so I almost forgot it was Pearl Harbor Day today until *** sent me this email. [laughs] You know what he sent me [laughs again] - this email said, "Hey, they're bombing Hawaii" [laughs LOUDLY]
Well, I for one am glad that we are so over the terrible events of that day that we can sit back and all laugh about it now, aren't you? I mean, Pearl Harbor is just such a joke... right?
Maybe it's just me. Maybe I'm getting old. Maybe I think that people forgot what that attack meant. We had never before been attacked by a foreign nation on our soil. NEVER. Looking back to that time, I can only believe that Americans then felt what we today felt like when 9/11 happened... only moreso. Why? Because we were at peace. We had just gotten out of the Great War (WWI) and the Depression and we just wanted to be left alone, isolated, and at peace. We were truly enjoying our peace. And then Japan not only had the wherewithal to attack us at Pearl Harbor, but elsewhere as well. FDR stated:
The attack yesterday on the Hawaiian Islands has caused severe damage to American naval and military forces. Very many American lives have been lost. In addition American ships have been reported torpedoed on the high seas between San Francisco and Honolulu.
Yesterday, the Japanese Government also launched an attack against Malaya.
Last night, Japanese forces attacked Hong Kong.
Last night, Japanese forces attacked Guam.
Last night, Japanese forces attacked the Philippine Islands.
Last night, the Japanese attacked Wake Island.
This morning, the Japanese attacked Midway Island.
Now, I was born in Japan. I am half Japanese. My mother is Japanese. I love my country. I'm an American. So sue me for saying so. We should have more respect for this day.
And yet, there they were, nice and cozy in their American broadcasting booth, probably using some Japanese and German audio equipment sold by an American company, making light of what was once the most devastating and dastardly attack even against the United States. That just doesn't seem right to me. It makes me wonder just how long before 9/11 is forgotten. I see signs of that happening already.
I suppose infamy does have a lifespan...
and it's a lot shorter than what it should be.
posted by wopanese @ 12:00
4 Smack Me:
I agree that talking about it in such a glib manner on the radio shows a complete lack of respect. I think it's a combination of a copule things. First, the number of people who were alive when it happened is less and less every year and the number of people who are actual survivors is even less. I think that has a tremendous effect on how much an event is remembered. There are those of us, like you and me who weren't alive then, but were raised to be respectful and remember events like that in a way they should be remembered. A lot of people just aren't that way. And it's very sad.
Second, we're not the same country we were then. People are far more cynical and selfish than in 1941. You're correct in that we ARE forgetting 9/11 already and I think that's the reason. I believe those attacks won't be remembered or memorialized for nearly as long as Pearl Harbor has been. And that's VERY sad.
Now, I have to interject this because it's an opinion I've held since the morning we all saw those planes hit the WTC. While I see why people compare the two because of the shocking nature of both and the similar loss of life, I never believed there was a comparison. Pearl Harbor was carried out as a military attack by military forces using military equipment against a military target. It was an act of war from one nation against another and the rules were very clear. 9/11 was an act of terrorism using people with fanatical beliefs hijacking civilian airliners and hitting a civilian target for pure shock value and for the purpose of instilling terror. That's what separates the two events to me and it somewhat reflects the differences in that world and today's world. The rules were simpler then.
Good points all, Bill. I put the comparison in there because, like you said, it's what everyone seems to want to compare it to - being attacks on our home soil and all that; but yes, things were a lot more red, white, & blue back then - nowadays, it's a lot more grey and we're a bit more black & blue...
I think we've had it so easy for so long - World War 2 was really the last war we had to "suffer" through in the sense that we could have actually been or were affected on a large scale by it. We really haven't been tagged by much since then. In 1940, they'd gone through World War 1, the raging 20's, and the Great Depression all in succession... I think people really appreciated what they had a lot more back then, cause they knew more directly what things COULD be like.
My first thought this morning, the second I realized the date, was "Oh, right-- Pearle Harbor Day." which is something that happens of a few significant dates, September 11th among them, and sends an uncomfortable chill down my spine. (Actually this one goes up, and settles at the base of my brain, and vibrates.) And that's given that there was a mention on the news last night (albeit a short one). If that qualifies as forgetting, I'll cop to it, but I don't think it does.
But the real trouble I have is this: I want to say you're wrong, but I can't. We probably don't pay enough attention to those anniversaries, and after so many years it probably does become background noise for most people. I wish I could say I'm not the only one who gets a raw chill, or wakes in the night, or stops in stunned wonder at all that death.
I'm glad there are still many of us that see the seventh as a solemn day worthy of respect.
Don't let the asshats get you down.
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